Unchosen
by NobleAndAncientLineBlack
Summary: Now that everyone is aware of Voldemort's return and Harry is suddenly the Chosen One, The Saviour, Danny finds what she loves the most slipping out of her hands. Can she hold on to it or are there some things just not meant to remain in her grip forever? SEQUEL TO 'PARALLEL LIVES' AND 'OUR RESISTANCE'
1. The Burrow

_I'm so excited right now that we've already reached the third part of Danny Potter's life. I want to thank all the people who reviewed, faved and alerted 'Parallel Lives' and 'Our Resistance' and I hope all of you will love this one as much. Certainly don't forget to tell me what you think of it and what your hopes and expectations are for the future of this story. _

**Chapter 1**

Two more weeks.

In exactly 14 days I will be returning to Hogwarts for another year filled with misfortune and injuries, of that I am sure. I have no desire at all to return. All that I want won't be there. I want peace and quiet and ever since the wizarding world proclaimed Harry as their saviour, the Chosen One, there was none of that in any place wizards and witches would venture. I wanted a normal school year but after all the ones I've had so far I know I will not be getting that either. And I want Cedric and he won't be there this year. He graduated last year and will be starting his healer training in September when I'll be back at the castle, buried in homework.

To be honest, that scares me. The school of Witchcraft and Wizardry never managed to steal my heart the way it did Harry's. To me it was just another school. The only thing good about the years spend at the castle was that Cedric had been there. Even though at the beginning I had cussed him out every time he dared to cross paths with me, he had been a constant through the two years I was on an emotional rollercoaster in Hogwarts. To not have him there as the rock that I lean on, makes me even more reluctant to go to the place where I am sure I will disappear since I am not the Chosen One, merely the side-kick.

"What are you thinking of?" A gentle hand finds its way into my unruly head of curls.

"I was thinking that I don't have to go to Hogwarts this year. Who needs an education anyway?" I sigh into Cedric's embrace.

Ever since we did the whole awkward boyfriend meet the parents thing, he's been spending a lot of time at my place. I have to admit I don't think my dad is too pleased with the fact that I have a boyfriend altogether but at least this way he is comforted by the knowledge that we can't do anything unnoticed with him watching us like a hawk whenever he can. It's not like we'd actually do anything in this house, not with so many people around. If my dad isn't paying attention to us, it's my uncle Remus who has been spending a lot of time here as well this summer. And then there's Harry who doesn't seem pleased with Cedric's constant presence either. But it's not like he has a lot of time to act uncomfortable around the two of us. He's too busy moping around. I can't blame him for that though.

The only person who is absolutely thrilled with having Cedric here – besides myself of course – is my mother. I think my first official boyfriend who I introduced to my parents is making her a little bit nostalgic. The first evening he came over she kept going on and on about her first boyfriend and hearing my mom gush about some guy she used to go out with wasn't exactly doing much good for my dad's mood.

But the alternative is Cedric's house and even though we get a lot more privacy there, I'm always terrified to run into his mother. For some reason unknown to me, she has decided to hate my guts. At first I thought it was all just in my head because I was just so nervous to meet Cedric's parents but after his dad warmed up to me and I to him, I realised there must be another reason for the hostile glares she keeps giving me. Mom says it's probably just because women are very sceptic of the girls their sons decide to date but if that's true, Mrs Diggory gives a whole new meaning to mother hen. It also made me feel sorry for Harry for the day he decides to bring a girl home though I know and hope that won't be any time soon. Things had gone pretty bad between him and Cho last year and after what happened at the end of it, Harry didn't bother to try and make amends with her. Case closed and relationship over, I guess.

Plus he's got the darkest wizard of all times to defeat so I don't think he'll have a lot of time to spend with the opposite sex.

"You don't think you have to return to Hogwarts?"

Even though I was clearly not too serious about my preposition, he seems to find the whole idea ridiculous. It was just a suggestion, one that would have me killed by my parents if I ever said it out loud to them.

"I know I have to." I roll my eyes. "I just don't want to."

He presses a kiss to the side of my face.

"I don't want you to go either."

"Problem solved," I smile up at him. "I simply won't go."

"That's hardly a solution," he grins back at me.

"It works for me," I shrug.

I'm not that girl. I would never describe myself as a person who would give up certain opportunities or obligations because I prefer to waste my time away with one specific person. I say waste because that's basically what I did this summer; While I should have been figuring out what Newts I want to go for this year and the next and Cedric should have been preparing for his Healer training, we just spend our summer lazing around. It was wonderful.

I didn't spend all my time with him, of course. I went to France for two weeks as well, to visit Charlotte and Noa. I liked being there again, this time without all the drama. It almost felt as if Noa and I had been on speaking terms the entire year, that's how easily we picked up things again. But even though I was happy to spend time with my two friends I had sort of neglected lately, I was so relieved to be back in England, to be back with Cedric. It makes me worry what months apart will do to us if I could barely cope two weeks.

"When do you leave for the Weasleys?" he changes the subject that we both haven't wanted to discuss all summer.

"Tomorrow," I groan.

As Cedric has already pointed out, me and Harry are heading over to The Burrow tomorrow afternoon. It has become somewhat of a tradition for my brother to spend the last days of the summer at his best friend's house. Normally I would refuse to tag along like I have every previous summer but I wanted to meet the second oldest son. Ever since the idea of becoming a magizoologist had been planted in my mind, I've been meaning to speak to Charlie Weasley about his job as a dragonologist. My parents support me in the possible idea of studying magical creatures in the future, though they have made it very clear they hope I'll choose something much safer than a fire-breathing reptile. They're probably rooting for flobberwurms.

"But I'll still see you before you leave for Hogwarts, right?"

"You think I'd leave for several months without saying goodbye to you?" I huff.

"Just making sure," he smiles. "Though it's not like we won't see each other at all during those months. I'll come to Hogsmeade for every trip."

"That is so not the same thing," I sigh.

"It's the best I've got."

"I know." I kiss him.

It was nowhere near enough. I wanted this, to be able to spend time with him whenever I wanted or whenever I needed to. And believe me when I say I have needed his presence a lot this summer. He didn't walk on eggshells around me the way my friends had been doing. Even Noa had treated me as an emotional bomb just waiting to burst the first few days we spend together. Neither is he wallowing in his own pain the way my family has been doing. We are healing, slowly but certainly. It is just going to need some time and when I'm with Cedric, I feel as if time is not an issue. As if we have seas of it and we can spend it any way we want to, not how we have to.

"I should go." He eventually tries to get up.

"What?! No you don't!" I cling on to him a little tighter.

Okay, so maybe I am becoming that girl. I want to say it's not that healthy but it's kind of an improvement compared to where I come from.

"Yes, I do." He gently pries my hand from his shirt. "It's getting kind of late and I have to drop by St Mungo's tomorrow morning for some papers."

"You could spend the night here," I suggest.

He throws me a sceptic look.

"I don't think your dad would be too happy about that and though your mother has been very open-minded, don't think she'd allow that."

"They don't have a problem with that," I bluff.

He cocks an eyebrow at me.

"Fine, maybe it's not the best idea," I pout.

"I am leaving now. Though I really wish I could take you up on that offer," he smirks.

He and I are not all sweet moments and occasional kisses. I mean, we have crossed that boundary about the second we left school. It was my first time ever having sex and to my surprise it was his as well. I could tell he was a bit embarrassed about that so I was kind enough not to tease him over it. Plus if I had teased him about it, he might not have wanted to sleep with me again. And I have become, after about three times, completely hooked on it, on him, on his body. I never thought I could feel so… intimately close to a person and like it. And I really do. I no longer mind to have Cedric see me entirely for who I am. Body and soul. Because no matter what parts I reveal of myself, he's clearly not going anywhere.

Though I still whined a little longer, Cedric did leave and on my mother's insistence I started packing my bags for the Weasley sleep-over. She had claimed that Harry had been packed and ready to leave for days now while I had done squad. She was obviously lying though because while passing Harry's room on my way to mine, I noticed his trunk was still completely empty and all his things were just scattered around the room.

"Aha!" I stick my head in the room and give him an accusing glare. "I knew there was no way you were already packed."

Harry doesn't even give me a sympathy smile. He just shrugs his shoulders and keeps staring out the window from his seat on the bed.

I hesitate for a moment because I've been trying to avoid this. I've been distracting myself all summer from my own pain but also from his. So far I've been really successful at it. I haven't really been ignoring my brother but I haven't paid him as much attention as I usually do. I'm not really too keen anymore on my role as Harry's therapist. He should really go see a professional one anyway. I'm sure that could do wonders for the boy.

Despite my inner objections, I still enter the room and sit down next to him on the bed.

"So your new hobby is bird watching?" I joke.

He doesn't show me any sign that he's listening and I can't think of something else to say either.

"You don't have to come with me," he suddenly says.

"I want to."

"No, you don't. Every time I asked you to join me the past years, you said you'd rather eat mud than be a guest at Ron's house."

"I didn't say it like that," I scoff. "And I do want to go this time, I'd like to talk to Charlie who will be there about his work. And you should know better than anyone that I never do anything I don't want to do."

"Would you still be going if I wasn't going?" He throws me a questioning look.

"Of course not. It would have been rude to invite myself."

"Danny…" He sighs.

"I really do want to talk to Charlie Weasley," I say slowly. "But I'm also going to make sure you're okay."

"What danger could I possibly be in at The Burrow?"

I shrug but the truth is I wasn't worried about his physical well-being. Harry's mind is very confused and confusing at the moment. He's been having the same nightmares over and over this summer and I'm sure they have found their way into his awake state as well to torture him some more. To be honest, I wasn't sure that the images I saw in my dreams were his nightmares at first. When it started with Sirius dying and occasionally Harry's fight against Voldemort in the graveyard over a year ago, I figured they might as well be my own nightmares. But then it changed from the sort of vision he had all throughout our fourth year and how Dumbledore explained to him what his destiny was and that convinced me I was indeed once again looking inside Harry's mind. I should find it worrisome that the older we get, the more that happens but on the other hand it makes it a lot easier for me to understand what is going on in the boy's head.

"I should pack," he changes the subject.

"Yes, you should," I nod and get up from the bed. "I should probably do the same."

Though I am in no way thrilled to be going to the Burrow, I am looking forward to seeing certain members of the Weasley family. My fifth year had been very eventful and complicated, but I think I have managed to develop a friendship with Fred and George in between because in many ways the three of us are similar. We're all parts of a twin, we like pranking and pestering Ron Weasley is our favourite thing to do.

My parents had a conversation with Charlie Weasley yesterday and they agreed with him that it would be okay for him to take me to the reservation in Romania. Though I'm certain they only consented with it in hopes that seeing all the dragons for real would discourage my idea for a future career as dragonologist, I can't help but be excited with such a prospect.

Twenty twirls in the fire place later and I step out into the Weasley's living room. They're almost all present. Fred and George wink at me once I look in their direction and Ginny gives me a small smile from where she's standing next to her youngest brother when suddenly I am being engulfed in Mrs Weasley's bear hug. I get that the woman is a hugger – it doesn't take many brain cells to figure that out – but I thought she'd realise that I'm not.

"Harry, dear!" The woman let go of me and it was my brother's turn to be suffocated.

I had never been at The Burrow before but had been able to draw an image for it by the way it was described to me by Harry. I had pictured it quite like this but not exactly. It was so obviously lived in, to the point of chaotic which only increased by the amount of people in the room. I don't really think you can have an OCD clean house with seven children so this all made sense. What didn't was the almost gloomy feeling I got in this house. Harry had once called it the perfect house to grow up in and that it was so homey, it made our house pale in comparison to it. I guess I can't blame the somewhat depressed mood I picked up in here on the Weasley's, but rather on the war.

The war that my parents had been desperately trying to hide from me and Harry the entire summer. They did a pretty good job at it, hadn't it been for the two of us snooping around through the paper bin. Though they had no idea about it, we were both very much aware of all the people who had become a victim of the mad man Death Eaters worship. And we also knew that the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, was trying everything to calm the people down and was so far rather unsuccessful. People had taken to questioning even loved ones before opening the door to them, something that was made obviously clear to me every time someone rang our doorbell.

According to our father no Death Eater can ever find our house because of ancient magic that protects Harry. But if they were so certain we were being protected by it, why were they all so paranoid whenever someone knocked on our door?

"Come on, Danny," Mrs Weasley ushers my upstairs after dinner. "You and Harry will be staying in Fred and George's room."

"What about them?" I glance at the twins.

"Oh, they've been sleeping in the little flat over their joke shop as they're so busy," she says.

Both boys had been excitedly telling me about the joke shop they've opened in Diagon Alley over dinner. I know it had always been their aspiration but I was rather surprised to find out that they had realised their big dream over the summer. Mrs Weasley was of course not too pleased with it but after she found out the amount of money they've been making of it, she came around. What I don't understand, however, is where they got the money to even rent a store in Diagon Alley. Those places cost a fortune and I don't think the war has made their prices implode that much.

Me and Harry wished everyone goodnight before going up the stairs where our trunks had already found a place of their own. Fred and George's room was on the second floor and even though someone had clearly being trying to spread a flowery scent in the room, there was still a smell lingering that reminds me an awful lot of the empty classroom in the dungeons where the twins and Lee worked on the Skiving Snackboxes.

After Mrs Weasley lit a candle in the room and closed the door behind us, I was very much aware that this was one of the rare moments during the summer that I was completely alone with my brother. And it made me awkward, as I had been around him the entire summer so far. For the first time in my whole life I had no idea what to say to him that might make that frown stop etching itself permanently into his forehead. That's not entirely true, I guess. I did know the magic words to do that. But I don't think telling Harry that Voldemort was dead for good this time and he didn't have to fight him after all would do any good if it wasn't the truth.

I slipped into my nightwear while Harry did the same. I whispered a final goodnight to him before throwing the blankets over me and snuggling into the bed.

I couldn't sleep. Harry couldn't sleep. It was pretty much a repeat of every summer night. Except at our place nothing creaked above our heads and no hushed voices came from the attic.

Somewhere between the moment I counted the wholes in the wooden floor and going over my mental list of things I was dying to ask Charlie, I woke up to loud voices seemingly screaming in my ear. When I reluctantly opened on eye and saw it was actually Granger and Weasley sitting on Harry's bed and having a non-silent conversation with him, I groaned and dug myself deeper in the warm cocoon I had created for myself out of the bed spread.

"Morning, Danny." Granger's voice greets me.

I grumble something back and turn around once more. Why can't I find the comfortable spot anymore I had been lying in for the past hours?

"How was your summer?"

Realising there is no way they'll allow me to go back to sleep, I push the blanket off me, ignoring the strays of my own black hair covering essential parts of my vision and huff out an 'okay'.

As if the room isn't crowded enough by now, the only female member of the Weasley heritage bursts in the room, looking as irritated as I am feeling.

"What's up with you?" her brother asks.

"It' _her_," Ginny says, throwing herself on my bed since Harry's was already full.

Don't mind me, it's not like I'm sleeping here!

"She's driving me mad. Oh, Hi Harry. Hi Danny."

"What's she done now?"

"It's the way she talks to me – you'd think I was about three."

"I know," Granger nods as if she completely understands the girl's frustrations. "She's so full of herself."

"Can't you two lay of her for two seconds?" Weasley angrily interrupts.

"Oh, that's right. Defend her!" Ginny snaps. "We all know you can't get enough of her."

Maybe it could be blamed on the fact that I am barely awake, but this conversation makes absolutely no sense to me. Who are they talking about?

But my unspoken question is answered when the door flies open suddenly to reveal a beautiful young woman standing in the doorway who clearly does not belong in a place called 'The Burrow'. Her beautiful blond hair is painfully obviously easier to tame then mine but I can easily forgive her for that if the tray of breakfast in her hands is meant for me.

"Arry, eet 'as been too long!" She floats – yes, floats – in the room and approaches Harry with the tray.

Does that mean it's not for me?

But as soon as Fleur Delacour enters the room, Mrs Weasley follows behind her and puts a second plate down on my nights stand. Though she clearly can't manage doing that without giving Fleur the stink eye. I didn't even know Mrs Weasley could glare.

"I 'ave been longing to see you." Fleur swoops down to grace both of Harry's cheeks with a kiss which I think is kind of inappropriate but by the blush on his face I don't think he minds very much. "You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about 'Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again."

"Oh, is she here too?" Harry has managed to relocate his vocal cords.

"No, no, silly boy," Fleur laughs a laugh that sounds more like a musical tune than something that is produced by the human throat. "I mean next summer, when we – but do you not know?"

Her eyes widen and she sends an almost accusing look in Mrs Weasley's direction who explains that she had not yet had the opportunity to tell him. Tell him what?

"Bill and I are going to be married!"

Even though I am slightly more aware now – how could I not be after all the commotion going on in the room – since I have shoved a piece of toast down my throat, I still do not understand what the strange glances between Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Granger mean.

"Congratulations, Fleur," I smile at her before rinsing my throat with pumpkin juice.

"Bill is very busy at ze moment," She beams at me and Harry. "working very 'ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my Eenglish, so he brought me 'ere for a few days to get to know 'is family properly. I was so pleased to 'ear you would be coming – zere isn't much to do 'ere, unless you like cooking and chickens! Well, enjoy your breakfast."

Once Fleur leaves the room in her typical gracious way, the rest of the women left in it start explaining just how truly they resent Bill's choice of a future wife. I really don't pay much attention to them since I still have a full plate of breakfast but at least now the strange glances were making more sense. I only pay attention again once Tonks' name is brought up in the conversation.

"Mom keeps trying to get Tonks round for dinner. I think she's hoping Bill will fall for Tonks instead. I hope he does, I'd much rather have her in the family."

What?! No, that can't happen! That would be awful though it does explain something that I've been wondering about all summer.

I had seen the way Remus had looked Tonks that day in the hospital and if I should believe my mother, his feelings for Tonks were returned. But for some reason the woman hadn't come by our house once the entire summer and since that's where Remus has been the past months, I can only assume those two haven't spoken much this summer. And maybe Bill is the reason Tonks hasn't been answering my uncle's feelings.

"Yeah, that'll work," Weasley says sarcastically. "Listen, no bloke in his right mind's going to fancy Tonks when Fleur's around. I mean, Tonks is OK-looking when she isn't doing stupid things to her hair and her nose, but-"

"She's a damn sight nicer," Ginny cuts in.

"And she's more intelligent, she's an auror!" Granger agrees.

"Fleur's not stupid, she was smart enough to enter the Triwizard contest."

I have to agree with Harry there. They didn't have to like Fleur, mostly because she makes every other girl in this room feel extremely inferior, but you couldn't pretend she was retarded. Fleur had a brain almost as impressive as her rack. Though I'm glad I didn't say that out loud given the glares the girls were sending Harry for merely mentioning Fleur wasn't stupid.

"Not you as well!" Granger says bitterly.

"I suppose you like the way she says 'Arry', do you?" Ginny says scornfully.

"No, I was just saying-"

"I'd much rather have Tonks in the family. At least she's a laugh."

No, I want Tonks in _my_ family. Just imagine how cute she and Remus would be together. It would also explain why he hadn't dated anyone since Hogwarts. His soul mate just hadn't been born yet.

"She hasn't been much of a laugh lately," Weasley says. "Every time I've seen her she's looked more like Moaning Myrtle."

"That's not fair," Granger snaps. "She still hasn't got over what happened…You know… I mean he was her cousin!"

It's like she's dropped a bomb on top of my head and it exploded my brains out against the pale yellow walls. She didn't say his name though we all knew who she was talking about. After all of us avoiding the topic as though it was the plague all summer, it feels almost disrespectful to have them discuss him so… easily. But they didn't know him. Sure, they looked pretty upset during the funeral as well but once they went home, he wasn't constantly on their minds. He was constantly on my mind though and I felt myself almost getting angry at her for bringing him up in a conversation that was supposed to be light.

By the way Harry suddenly digs his fork into his plate as if trying to drill all the way to Australia, I'd say he's not too comfortable with the subject they've broached either.

"Okay," I throw the blankets off me which effectively makes Ginny fall on the floor. "I'm going to start taking my clothes off now to get changed and I suggest you leave the room for that."

The four of them look at me as if I speak another language. Well, most of the time I do. To prove the fact that I'm not bluffing I start to unbutton my shirt.

"Alright, alright, we're leaving." The three of them scramble out of the room, Weasley's head completely red while he's trying to look anywhere but at my exposed neckline.

"You weren't really going to start undressing, right?" Harry gives me a small smile when the stooges have left.

"Of course not," I smirk. "But it was rather funny to see them so uncomfortable."

"You're evil," he snickers.

"I prefer genius, really." I settle back against the pillows to finally enjoy my breakfast in silence.

As I've come to realise commotion is practically The Burrow's normal way of the day, I'm almost not surprised when I find an almost frantic Granger practically hanging out the window, screaming and pointing at something in the sky.

"Owls!" She screams in my ear. "There are four owls coming towards us!"

"Wow," I say sarcastically. "You almost never see those birds in the wizarding world."

My comment is not appreciated as suddenly Granger grabs on to me and tries to make me understand why she is acting like a mental patient right now.

"You think that's a coincidence?! They're bringing the result of our O.W.L.S!"

"Oh," I say. "I kind of forgot they were still due."

"You forgot!? How could you have forgotten?!" Granger shrieks.

"We can't all be peeing our pants the entire summer for it. You clearly did that for the four of us," I shrug her hands off me.

"You're not even a little nervous?" Harry asks me.

"I pretty much nailed all the important ones," I shrug.

So I do think I did satisfyingly at the end of last year but when the owls bearing our results fly through the kitchen window and sweep down on the table, I do start to wonder that maybe I might be a bit off about that. After all the woman who judged my practical part of Potions clearly didn't like me.

After the three others have reached out to the owl carrying their envelope I am forced to do the same. When I untie the letter from its paw and open it, I suddenly don't feel so sure anymore with the leprechauns doing somersaults in my stomach.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades : Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail grades : Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

DANIELLE LILIANE POTTER HAS ACHIEVED :

Ancient Runes : P

Astronomy : A

Care of Magical Creatures : O

Charms : E

Defence Against the Dark Arts : A

Herbology : E

History of Magic : P

Potions : O

Transfiguration : E

All in all, my results weren't so bad. Sure, I did poorly in Ancient Runes but I already figured I would since I hadn't understood anything from the course the entire year. I'm actually surprised it's not a Troll.

I knew History of Magic wouldn't be good either since I had been too worried the entire exam as to why Harry had collapsed during it to properly fill in the questions.

But what really struck a chord with me was the fact that I only got an acceptable for Defence Against the Dark Arts while I was certain Harry would have gotten an Outstanding on the subject.

He did but I was rather pleased to see he only got one O and I got two. Finally, something I bested Harry in!


	2. The Sanctuary

_I'm really excited to present you with another chapter and though there isn't a lot of action in it, I think it's still an important one. _

_Thank you __**music anomaly, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__and __**avengeme **__for being loyal readers and the first people to review 'Unchosen'. May many more follow in you footsteps :)_

_As for the frequency of Cedric appearing in this chapter I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you and myself as well. Now that Cedric has graduated and Danny still has to go back to Hogwarts for two more years, we won't be seeing as much of him as we did in the first two parts of this story. But he's still a big part in Danny's like since they're dating and all so he will still be an active member in my story. _

_Harry and Danny are siblings and even though they have a pretty strange connection, inevitably that means they will fight like cats and dogs sometimes. But they are also one united front so every falling out that they've had so far and might still have in the future, will be easily (?) overcome. _

**Chapter 2**

The four of us all did pretty well on our OWLs and Mrs Weasley was beaming with pride for three children who weren't even her own. But Granger and Harry seemed to find it almost normal that she takes up the role of surrogate-mother for everyone so I decided not to comment on it. I do know she's acting this way out of the bottom of her big heart.

I am too busy trying to stay out of her hug-loving arms that I don't see something fall out of Harry's envelope until he bends down to pick it up.

"What's that?" I point at the shiny badge in his hand.

He shows it to me and I read the bold letters printed on it that say 'Quidditch Captain'.

"You're the new Quidditch Captain for the Gryffindor Team?" I smirk.

"Apparently." He looks baffled at the thing that proclaimed him as the future hope for winning the Quidditch cup this year.

"It makes sense," Granger says. "You've been on the team the longest and with Angelina, Alicia, Fred and George all gone, there really weren't a lot of options."

Why did she just make it sound like he didn't earn it but was merely the only choice left?

"Well even so, congratulations, Harry," I smile at him. "You'll do great. And this ups my chances to get on the team as a chaser this year."

"You'll still have to try out," He smiles.

"I'm guessing my chances are still pretty good," I shrug. "As long as I don't hit a little kid in the face this year."

"I'm sorry, what?!" Granger shrieks at me and Harry looks at me strangely.

"Oh… You guys didn't know that?" I give them a dumb-struck look.

I really thought I had at least told Harry about that. Oh, wait. I didn't because the whole reason I punched the kid in the first place was all the nasty things he was saying about Harry. I didn't want my brother to know about that.

"Oh, Danny," Mrs Weasley calls for my attention. "Arthur has arranged for a portkey to take you to Romania tomorrow afternoon to go visit Charlie. He'll be the one to bring you back the next day as well. He just wrote that it's very warm there so you cannot forget to wear appropriate clothes and the right preparations as to not get a heat stroke.

I allow her to continue to fuss over me until lunch because I'm just too happy with the prospect of seeing the dragons any time soon. Sure, I've seen dragons before, during the Triwizard Tournament but I had been too busy back then worrying about Harry's safety to really appreciate it.

"Are you sure you want to be a dragon keeper?" Harry asks me during lunch.

"No," I shrug. "But it is one of my options and I'd like to see what I'd be getting myself into."

"Potions Master sounds safer," He mutters under his breath.

I'm glad to see Harry is worried about my safe-being. Even though it's in his character to worry about everyone, it always warms my heart whenever he expresses how much he doesn't want to see me get hurt.

"Safer? Yeah, nothing says safe environment like a potions lab with substances exploding in your face and producing lethal gasses, " I laugh. "I reckon I'm better off with the dragons."

It took an eternity for it to become tomorrow afternoon but eventually it did and I was presented with a dirty bandana that looked like it just had a mud bath.

"I don't see why portkeys always have to be things you really don't want to touch," I sigh before cautiously putting my hand on the rag.

The second I touch it, I feel the almost familiar pull behind my belly button. I still see Mr Weasley turning into a blur before my surroundings are certainly not The Burrow anymore. But I don't get the chance to really take it all in because I'm spinning like crazy and getting dizzy and I think I might throw up any second now. But just when I'm convinced I will, I feel myself get smacked on the hard ground that kind of knocks the breath out of me.

"You must be Danny."

I'm a bit groggy from the portkey trip but I can still see the man standing over me with red hair. I groan when I try to get up because that smack really did a number on my bones. The man who I'm assuming is Charlie Weasley eventually pulls me to my feet all by himself. I'm not a heavy weight I'd like to think but him lifting me up like that still seemed a little too effortless for someone with a normal posture.

"Why would people ever voluntarily want to travel by portkey?" I moan while leaning onto Charlie a bit. "They're nuts."

"Well, it's the only way to get here. It's too far from England to apparate or use the floo network."

"Wait," I look up at him bewildered. "Does that mean we're going back with a portkey as well?"

"I'm afraid so." He nods.

"Oh man, I was really hoping I didn't have to use one again this year," I whine but then I compose myself when I realise this guy is actually going out of his way to help me. "I'm Danny."

He seems a bit confused with me going from moaning about how I hate portkeys to presenting myself to him with an absolutely blinding and slightly forced smile.

"I'm Charlie." He gives me a smile in return. "Though I'm sure you've figured that out."

"The red hair was kind of a give-away." I nod.

It is definitely true that I would have recognised this guy as a member of the Weasley family even if I didn't know it beforehand. I always pictured him as an older – and more handsome – version of the twins. I wasn't that far off. Though I could recognise their smiles in his and they had the same eyes, Charlie was indeed easier on the eyes. His larger built didn't do much harm either. He was slightly shorter as Fred and George as well but since they're really tall and lanky, I think Charlie probably has a more normal height. Because the guy lives in Romania, it's only natural that he has a darker skin tone and somehow that went really well with his red hair that was a few shades less bright than that of his siblings.

"So this is Romania?" I finally take in my new surroundings I didn't have the opportunity to appreciate when I was crashing into the ground with the speed of a Nimbus 2000.

For a girl who grew up in the always cold and grey Godric's Hollow, it was rather overwhelming to suddenly be surrounded by so much green even though Hogwarts definitely has very well preserved nature all around it as well. We were standing on top of a small hill but I could see big mountains far away. In fact I could see pretty far in the distance. There were no buildings, no concrete roads, just a little grind path that leads to some place that was probably equally impressive.

"It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is." Charlie looks at the view with an almost proud smile. "If you like this, you're really going to love the sanctuary."

"This isn't the reservation?" I frown.

"No, people can't apparate or use a portkey there. We're at the border of Boita."

"Boi-what?"

"It's the town next to the reservation. Don't expect too much from it. It's got a bakery, a bar and a hair dresser. That's it."

"Sounds impressive," I laugh. "Is it a wizarding town?"

"Of course it is." Charlie starts walking down the path and signals for me to follow him. "It would be really dangerous to have muggles so close to a Dragon Sanctuary. We don't want anyone to find out about them."

I walked on Charlie's side, enjoying the magnificent view and the warmth of the sun on my face. Though we had a pretty hot summer this year, that heath had been nothing compared to the temperature here. But I like to think that never being cold is something I can really get used to.

We made it to Boita pretty quickly. Like Charlie had told me the town wasn't very big and there couldn't be too many people living here. Yet the rustic look and homey feeling I got from the place told me this is an environment I would enjoy being in every single day.

We walked through the little village with my companion greeting the few people in the streets with words I didn't understand. Well, that made sense I guess. We're still in Romania and that means the people around here would speak Romanian.

"Is it a difficult language to learn?" I ask him once we've left the centre of the small town behind us.

"It's not easy," He says. "But when you're being surrounded by it the entire time it's easier to pick it up."

"They don't speak English around here?" I ask shocked.

I honestly hadn't thought about the possibility that I wouldn't understand anyone at the sanctuary.

"The villagers know a few sentences but don't expect too much from it. Plus they really appreciate it when you try to learn their language. But on the sanctuary there are a lot of different nationalities so the used language there is English."

Luckily.

"Are there people from every part of the world?" I ask him, excited at the prospect of meeting all kinds of people in this place.

"Most people on the reservation are from around these parts. Romanian, Croatian, Bulgaric though I'm definitely not the only Englishman. There are other dragon reservations but this one is the largest and if you really want to make a name for yourself as a dragonologist, this is the place to do it."

In the distance I can see a strange kind of shimmering in the air. Charlie doesn't seem to pay any attention to it so maybe that's a natural occurrence here? But when we approach it and I can see up close just how unnatural it seems, I have to ask him about it.

"It's a shielding charm. It keeps the muggles and unauthorised people out and the dragons in. We don't want them to go destroying the inhabited areas in their search for food or a nesting place."

"Then how are we supposed to get in?" I frown.

Clearly the guy knows his way in and out of the reservation but I'm just really confused right now on the how.

"The wands of everyone on the reservation are registered. The shield recognises it and allows us to simply walk through."

And to give me proof of what he is saying, he pulls out his wand and walks right through the shielding spell as if it's not even there.

"That's all really practical for you, but how the hell am I suppose to pass through it? I'm pretty sure mine won't be recognised by it."

I wave my own mahogany wand with a core of Veela hair. There's no way I'll just magically be allowed to pass.

"Here." He suddenly, without any warning, throw me his wand from the other side of the shield.

He's pretty damn lucky I somehow still managed to catch it. Certainly he didn't know about my chaser reflexes.

I follow him to the other side and just like it did with him, the shielding charm seems to disappear around me when I enter the reservation.

"Well," He takes his wand back from me. "We're officially on the sanctuary grounds now but the cabins are still a little walk from here."

"The cabins?" I ask him when he leads me further away from the shield.

"Yeah, almost all of the employees live on the domain and each one has his own cabin. And then there are also the facilities like the potion hut, the hatching centre, the Health Care Wing,-"

"The Health Care Wing?" I frown worriedly when I hear that.

"We work with dragons, Danny. There's a big risk involved. Everybody who works here eventually ends up at the Hospital Wing once. Actually, make that twice."

Of course I had known that certain injuries could happen when working with fire-breathing reptiles but when I saw the size of their Health Care Wing a few minutes later, I had a little case of cold feet. And I think I gulped too visibly because Charlie made a comment on it.

"You get attacked sometimes, it's happened to me more than once and sometimes the scars don't fully heal." He pulls up his sleeve to show me the burn mark on his upper arm. "This isn't really the kind of job for a pretty girl."

"Excuse me?" I respond appalled. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I didn't mean it in an offensive way. I'm just saying you should think twice before signing up for a job that will scar your beauty pageant face."

I guess in a messed up way he called me beautiful but I couldn't help but angry at him for suggesting I'm the kind of girl who would cry if she broke her nail on the first day. Besides it's not like I'm free of scars. I've had more than enough Quidditch Injuries over the years and I'm not afraid to get a lasting scar other than the ones I already have.

"Faces never stay beautiful forever and I am not scared to get a few injuries. If I was, I certainly wouldn't play Quidditch or even consider a career as a dragonologist," I huff angrily.

"I'm just saying." He raises his hands in defence.

"Well, your 'just saying' is offensive," I snap at the guy before entering the cabin in front of which he came to a halt.

The room I've just entered looks like a small living room so I'm guessing I've entered the place known as Charlie's home. It's furnished and all but somehow it feels as if he's barely put any personal feelings in it. Clearly, this place needs a woman's touch. I guess that solved the question whether or not he's dating anyone.

"I'm sorry I offended you." His voice comes from behind me once I've had the opportunity to inspect the rest of the cabin. It's not very big but it has all the basic necessities.

"It's okay," I sigh. "I just wish people would realise that I know the things I'm getting myself into. Better than they do."

"Are we still talking about the sanctuary?" He frowns.

I nod to him that I am but maybe I was also talking about something else.

"Well, you'll have the opportunity to prove just how though you are in a minute," He grins at me. "You can put your bag over there and follow me."

I quickly do as he says and follow him to a part of the sanctuary we hadn't passed before. When I ask him where we're going his grin just widens.

"Are you ready to see a dragon?"

Immediately my heart jumps into my throat. Even though it makes me kind of nervous – as it should since a dragon can peel the skin of my bones by merely breathing on me – I'm incredibly excited for it as well. So I eagerly follow him down the path where I'm hoping I'll finally get to see a live dragon again.

"I can't take you into the part of the domain where most of the dragons are. They roam around freely and it would be too dangerous for someone like you with no experience in the field to go there. But I can take you to see Bertha."

I was about to ask him who Bertha is when I come face to face with her after following Charlie up the hill. She's female… I think. I wouldn't be too sure how to tell the gender underneath all those scales.

"Danny, this is Bertha." Charlie gestures to the huge dragon in front of me.

She's enormous. I try to recall if the dragons I had seen during the tournament had been this big but I had never been as close to one of them as I was to Bertha. Nor had they been as muscled as she was. The dragon , who is only a few feet away from me, is a giant green mountain of bulkiness. Holy crap! That thing can kill me in the blink of an eye.

"Don't worry," Charlie says to me. "There's another shield."

That's when I finally notice that the air separating her from me has the same strange shimmer as the entrance of the sanctuary did. Bertha was in a sort of cage that you could barely see without paying close attention to it.

"Why is she locked up?" I ask him without taking my eyes off the dragon. I don't want any sudden movements from her catching me off guard.

"We're examining her to see if she fits the breeding program. She's a Romanian Longhorn and their numbers have been dropping a lot because they're being killed for their horns which is used as a potion ingredient. So these past year we've been setting up a breeding program for Romanian Longhorns but since dragons can barely stand the sight of another dragon long enough to mate, it's not been evolving as rapidly as we'd like."

I look at the future mother in front of me and can't help but think it must be really amazing to work on a breeding program to up the numbers of a endangered species.

"We've actually just had a nest of Longhorns. I'll take you to see them tomorrow if you'd like," Charlie suggests.

"I would love that," I smile at him excitedly.

Charlie has a hard time dragging me away from Bertha. She's just so majestic and impressive, I could watch her all day. And a job where watching dragons the entire time is the main activity starts to sound really appealing to me right now.

It's early in the evening when we eventually make it back to his cabin. As a true gentleman he allows me to sleep in his bed for the night while he takes the couch. I tried to protest since I felt kind of bad for kicking him out of his own room but apparently Weasleys can be pretty stubborn.

Both of us would return to England, to the Burrow, tonight and I was sort of sad to be going. Charlie had introduced me to a few people who work on the reservation, including his boss. I was kind of glad to see that his boss was a woman since she was the first female person I met on this sanctuary, not counting Bertha. Clearly there was a shortage of finding women who wanted to work with dragons.

After seeing the Health Wing, the lab where they worked on potions for the dragons like for example a potion that would make them more fertile and the training building where the new employees had to follow a course during an entire year before they were actually allowed to go anywhere near a dragon, we paid a visit to the hatching centre.

Charlie had saved the best for last. I had been slowly falling in love with this place and his profession but being in the place where new life was born is what made me realise that the sanctuary and I were meant to be. A nest of Romanian Longhorns had hatched about three weeks ago which meant the hatching centre had its hands full with the newborn dragons trying to spread their wings. They were failing at it, obviously, since apparently dragons only start to really fly when they're about a year old.

I nearly squealed – yes, squealed and we all know I don't do that sort of thing – when Charlie presented me with a fire-proof suit that the dragonologists use in the hatching centre and told me I would be allowed to hold one of the baby Longhorns.

"Here you go." He gently passes me one of the dragons who was barely awake but seemed completely comfortable in my arms.

The little bundle of green scales with two little horns on the top of his head like a bull was adorable and breath-taking and I really didn't want to give him back.

"His name is Ramoth."

"Seriously?" I cock an eyebrow at Charlie. "Bertha, Ramoth, who picks these names?"

"You haven't even heard the worst ones," he laughs. "Mostly we all just throw a name in a bowl and the one that's pulled out is what it will be."

"How unfortunate you were," I coo at the little reptile in my arms.

I reluctantly hand Ramoth back to one of dragonologists in the hatching centre when Charlie tells me it will soon be time to return to England.

We walked back to the place Charlie and I had first met and where a portkey would be waiting for us once more. He had taken a large bag with him since he'll be staying at the Burrow for two weeks.

"So what did you think of the Sanctuary?" He asks me while we pass through the little village of Boita.

"Where do I sign up?" I sigh happily, thinking of the future I could have here as a dragon keeper.

"Seriously?" He looks at me with expecting eyes.

"Definitely!" I exclaim. "I can't imagine doing anything else."

Though I had promised my parents I would also continue to explore the option of becoming a potions master, I now found little use in that now that I knew so certain what I wanted to become.

"I'm glad it left such a good impression on you," He smiles."I was afraid the whole thing would scare you off, not excite you to this extent."

"Are you kidding me? How could it not?" I wave my arms around frantically as if that somehow makes a point. "This place is amazing! It is wonderful! And there is nothing better in the world than being around those dragons. It's better than pranking. It's better than Quidditch. It's better than sex-!"

I close my mouth shut once I've realised I was just about to, and had actually started to discuss my sex life with Ron Weasley's 25-year old brother who I've barely know for 24 hours. I can't help but blush at the mortifying situation and I can see Charlie becoming incredibly awkward next to me as well.

"Any chance you can just forget that last part?" I say.

"Trying to." He looks straight ahead with an incredibly uncomfortable expression on his face.

"So," I attempt to switch topics and change the tense atmosphere. "Is it doable to work here in Romania but live in England? And basically go back and forth every day?"

"No," He says in a tone that suggests I'm an idiot for even thinking so. "Why do you think everyone lives on the reservation? Using a portkey to travel such distances is exhausting. Not just for you but it takes up a lot of magic. Magic that the sanctuary should use for more important things."

"Are you saying that if I would want to work here, I would have to move here?" I frown worriedly.

"Yes," He nods. "I thought you knew that."

For a total of one hour I had been convinced that I found the one thing I wanted to commit myself to in the future professionally. What a blissful hour. For a whole sixty minutes I wasn't worrying that I was the only student in my year without an actually plan for the next forty years of my life. But now Charlie shattered that idea by telling me that if I wanted this life, I would have to leave behind the one I have in England. Leave behind my family and all the people I care about. I don't think I want to do that. Not even for something that's better than Quidditch.

Great, I'm right back where I was at the beginning of the summer. Maybe I shouldn't rule out Potions Master just yet.

This new piece of information had ruined the high spirits I had been in before and using a portkey to get back to the Burrow wasn't exactly the best way to make me happy again.

When Charlie and I finally touched British bottom – me by smacking once again and him by merely floating down elegantly – we were greeted with most of the Weasley family. They all engulfed Charlie in hugs and asked him how he was doing which I guess makes sense since they hardly ever get to see him during the year. Didn't he have a hard time leaving his family when he moved to Romania? I get that most families aren't as close as mine and some wouldn't mind moving to a different country. But the Weasleys are a perfect example of a tight-knitted family. So I don't get how he can't understand that leaving England would be too much to ask of me.

"How was it?" Harry asks me when I move up the stairs to get changed since it's a lot colder in England than it was in Romania.

"Okay," I shrug.

If he had asked me that a few minutes ago I would have overwhelmed him with enthusiastic stories about everything I had seen there but now I was just completely bummed out because one little detail stood in my way of a future as a dragonologist.

Over the course of the next few days I have decided that once we get back to Hogwarts, I will have to ask Snape about how to start with a career as Potions Master. He might not want to help me with that but that just makes it even more fun to bother him with it.

During the time I was in Romania Dumbledore apparently came to the Burrow to borrow Harry for a few hours. He told me Dumbledore had wanted him to help convince a previous professor of Hogwarts to teach there once more. His name is Slughorn and I believe I've heard the name before though I can't remember where. But since Harry told me he used to teach our parents and collected promising students as though they were rare Chocolate Frog Cards, I'm guessing I must have heard our mother talk about him in the past. Even if that Slughorn guy turns out to be an ass-hole, he'll probably follow in his predecessors footsteps and only teach Defence Against the Dark Arts for one year.

Before we would be going to Hogwarts and Harry and I would spend one last day at home, The Weasleys and the both of us were making one last trip to Diagon Alley. I hadn't been there all summer though I've read about lots of shops closing and some owners mysteriously disappearing these last few months. I was still excited to see The Weasley's shop though. I've only heard great things about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes but I would still very much like to see it with my own two eyes.

It wasn't that hard to spot the Twins' shop once we got to Diagon Alley. Where all the shops were dark and closed, their store stood out like an orange beacon of laughter and luminescence. Because the rest of the wizarding shopping street was so deserted, all the people seemed to be drawn to the building on a corner where a lot was going on.

Once I stepped through the door and found myself in the middle of what I can only describe as a carnival, I had a sort of déjà-vu feeling from when the twins would stand on top a table in the common room to promote their new and improved Skiving Snackboxes. Of course improved usually still meant you would continue to throw up until twelve hours after taking a Puking Pastille. Speaking of the twins standing on top of a table, they seemed to have turned it into a habit. Fred and George were standing on a platform in the middle of their over-crowded store in which it apparently isn't considered strange to have fireworks trying to hit you in the face. And they were, as only they can, sprouting so much nonsense about their products it actually makes sense.

Everywhere I looked, I saw one amazing invention after another and I couldn't help myself but to think of all the mischief I could pull off in Hogwarts this year with an Anti Gravity Hat – _'Ruin a gentleman's day by making his hat fly away!' – _or a Nose Biting Teacup. I didn't know what to spend my money on first and was slightly afraid I'd use up all of my savings if I was allowed in the store for too long.

"This is brilliant," I grin up at the both of them once they notice me hanging around the Portable Swamps.

"Thanks!" They say in unison. "Feel free to buy anything you like and continue to cause some uproar at Hogwarts now that we're no longer there to do it for you. May we suggest some Self-propelling Custard Pies?"

"How much for these?" Harry points to something that is labelled 'Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder'.

"Harry," George slaps my brother's shoulder in a friendly gesture. "You help yourself to anything you want, all right? No charge."

What?! When I asked them if I could get a discount for the Fanged Frisbees they told me to pay up the full sum.

"I can't do that!" Harry says though I would totally take that deal if I were in his shoes.

"You don't pay here," Fred agrees with his brother. "You gave us our start-up loan, we haven't forgotten. Take whatever you like, and just remember to tell people where you got it, if they ask."

"What?!" I turn to my own twin. "Is that what you did with the money you won in the Triwizard Tournament? When Cedric told me the amount you had each been given I had expected a really expensive birthday present and not the hand-eating wallet I got. But this surely explains why I haven't benefited from your wealth. You gave it all away!"

Harry just smiles at me with a dumb expression on his face and shrugs his shoulders. I will admit, investing in a store like this is brilliant especially since he doesn't get charged for anything he wished to purchase here.

Eventually I stacked my arms full with an Anti Gravity Hat to bug the hell out of Snape and all the other professors this year, creepy crawlies to scare some of my house mates whenever they need a good scare, three pairs of Extendable Ears because they will come in really handy, a handful of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder because it can never hurt to blind one's enemies and a Nose Biting Teacup because why the hell not?

"Put it on Harry's tab," I say to Fred while dumping all of it on the counter.

"That's not how it works," He grins while presenting me with a bill I really am not planning on paying. "Not every Potter get to shop freely."

"The money he gave you for all of this," I gesture to the entire building with wide hand movements. "was supposed to go to all of my birthday, Christmas and because-I-deserve-them-presents. So if I have to suffer through abysmal gifts for the next ten years, I'm entitled to a special treatment as well. So I'll be having the Harry Potter discount."

"Very well," He snickers and hands me the bag of goods while my eyes travel to the jars with green pills on the counter.

"Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who? You should be worrying about U-No-Poo," I read out loud with a questioning gaze towards the redhead before me. "The constipation that's gripping the nation? How do you guys come up with stuff like that?"

"It's a gift," He smiles. "Now if you need a refill of your stock, just send us an owl and we'll make sure it's delivered to you disguised as pumpkin pasties or something. Just don't eat the pasties."

"I'll certainly make use of that. After all I've got quite a lot of students and professors to terrorize all by myself this year," I wink at him before following my brother and his friends towards the exit.

"Hey, Danny?" Fred calls me back before I make it out the door.

"Yeah?" I turn around.

"Give them hell," He smirks.

"Oh," I give him a mischievous look every Marauder would have been proud of. "I will."


	3. Separation Anxiety

_This story was in dire need of some Danny/Cedric moments so that's what I did in this chapter. I hope you like it._

_Danny will only be meeting Slughorn in the next chapter so we'll see if he thinks her impressive enough to be part of his 'collection'. I'm sure if the choice was up to Danny, she'd consider herself the price jewel :p_

_By the way, I have to thank __**avengeme, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__and __**music anomaly**__ from the bottom of my heart for being such awesome and loyal reviewers. Thank you so much!_

**Chapter 3**

Me and Harry are leaving the Burrow two days before we will be returning to Hogwarts and the two of us are packing our trunks. Well, Harry is. I have never even bothered unpacking mine. Instead I sit on the bed reading the book Charlie has given me, _'From Egg to inferno: a Dragon-Keeper's Guide'_, while Harry stuffs all his belongings back in his trunk.

Ever since we've gotten back from Diagon Alley yesterday, he has been wearing this determined expression on his face, as if he's going to battle. Though we are certainly at war, I didn't get any memo of a battle so his strange look is giving me some concerns. I also wish I know what has provoked it. I'm assuming something happened at Diagon Alley that I am not aware of. It must have happened after our visit to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes because when we were there he looked fine. I ran into Kellah Jordan, Lee's sister who's in my year and when she and I had said our goodbyes after catching up for a while, Harry had been nowhere in sight. I caught up again with him and his friends at the Leaky Cauldron and ever since then he's been wearing that unsettling expression.

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for him to confide in me about what happened but so far he hasn't said anything. I'm sure his two friends are perfectly aware of what happened and I am trying hard not to let it piss me off that they know of something he clearly has no intention of sharing with me.

"I know you're hiding something from me," I let it slip casually while continuing to flip through the pages of my book.

"What?" He looks up at me in confusion while putting the last of his stuff away.

"Something clearly happened yesterday that you find upsetting and apparently you have no desire to share your worries with me." I glare at the pages.

"I… don't really even know what I would tell you," He says eventually.

"Well, at least you're not going to pretend I'm making this stuff up." I close the book and look at my brother sitting on the bed across from mine. "How about you start by telling me what happened?"

"I saw Malfoy."

"At Diagon Alley? It's really not that weird to run into a fellow student during the period everyone's getting their books."

"He wasn't there just to get the stuff from the list, he went to Knockturn Alley."

Knockturn Alley is not the kind of place nice people venture. It's where all the shady wizards and witches go when they have nothing good up their sleeve. Though it's not really a surprise a member of the Malfoy family would be fine going to such a place, I'm guessing Harry found it reason enough to be filed as 'suspicious behaviour'.

"Let me guess," I sigh. "you followed him?"

"I had to!"

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at his words. He didn't really have to, nobody made him excepts of course for Harry himself.

"And I was right to do it. He entered Borgin and Borks."

Another shady shop.

"I'm thinking probably half of the stuff at their house comes from that place. He might just have been redecorating." I shrug though I can tell there's more to this story than that.

"You don't really believe that."

"And you don't know what he bought there. It might not be as harmful as the things you're thinking of."

"I do know what he bought."

"You do?" I frown. "You didn't enter that place, did you?!"

That would be a totally realistic option since Harry doesn't normally think things through before rushing right into the action. And Borgin and Borks is definitely not a place where Harry would be welcomed like a hero the way he has been at every other shop.

"No, I didn't. But I heard what he said through a pair of Extendable Ears. He was there to purchase a big black cabinet and asking how to fix the similar one he has."

"See, he _is_ redecorating!"

But Harry doesn't seem to buy that story one bit. Honestly, neither do I.

"Fenrir Greyback was with him."

That certainly makes me rethink the decorating his room idea. Greyback is bad news and a Death Eater to boot. If Malfoy is doing business with that monster, you can be sure that the boy isn't up to anything good either.

"I think Malfoy's a Death Eater."

"Harry,… you've had some pretty good insides in the past but that is preposterous."

"It makes sense!"

"No, it doesn't." I shake my head.

"Yes, it does!" He insists. "He showed Borgin something that made him take Malfoy seriously and I saw him clutching his left arm. I am telling you he has the mark."

"No, he doesn't. Why would he anyway? I agree that Lucius Malfoy is a terrible man who has done terrible things and I'm sure his son will turn out just as evil as him but right now Draco Malfoy is a child. And what use could Voldemort possibly have for a teenage Death Eater?"

Harry let it drop but I could tell from the determined expression still on his face that he was not about to give up on his theory. In fact, I'm rather worried he's desperate to prove it.

We left The Burrow with the promise to meet up with the Weasley's at King's cross the day after tomorrow. I was glad to be back home, with my family and I could tell they were too. It's hard worrying about Harry, about all the people I care about. And I can only imagine how much worse it must be for our parents, fearing the day Voldemort might actually succeed in killing their son, maybe lose their daughter in the process as well since she's very likely to jump in front of a killing curse meant for her brother.

At my father's insistence Cedric didn't come over the day after which means I will only see him at King's cross the day I leave for Hogwarts. At a platform surrounded by my family and peers is not exactly how I imagined myself saying goodbye to Cedric but apparently that's how it is going to be.

I prepare all of my stuff and go to bed early the day before the first of September, hoping that this night won't be filled with the nightmares of the previous ones.

I am having a bad case of First School Day Syndrome which means no matter how much I toss and turn and almost end up choking myself with my own sheets, I simply cannot manage to fall asleep. My mind is fully awake and dwelling over the past summer and worrying about everything that will await me at the castle this year. Plus, I'm also really pissed that tomorrow I will have to say goodbye to Cedric for who knows how long. He did promise me that he would visit me whenever there is a Hogsmeade trip but I have never really paid a lot of attention to the frequency of those trips throughout the school year. And what if, by some acute attack of justified paranoia, the school decides to cancel the visits because of the Death Eaters? I would understand such a measure but in no way can I support it when that means the end of my social life.

Even though I was most certainly not slowly drifting into a slumber, I still jump up as if I was when my room is suddenly filled with the bright light coming from the Patronus that appeared in the middle of my bedroom.

"Can you come downstairs?" The familiar voice speaks to me from the mouth of the luminescent dragon.

I immediately slip out of bed and tiptoe down the stairs but not before quickly checking my appearance in the hall mirror. The over-sized shirt and boy-shorts I use as pyjamas would just have to do. At least I still have the decency to pull my hair that looks like a run-over haystack into a high ponytail.

"You know, most guys usually throw pebbles at a girl's bedroom window," I say when I open the front door to reveal Cedric standing behind it. "Not that a huge blue see-through dragon isn't nice either but sometimes the classics work just as well."

"I like to do things originally," he smiles at me before entering my house.

"I've noticed. There aren't a lot of people who do the wooing process through 'The Squibler'," I smile back before he swoops down for a kiss.

"You liked it," he grins at me when he allows me a gasp of fresh air.

"I'm really glad to see you." I close the door which leaves the two of us standing in a dark hallway. "But what are you doing here?"

Though I can't see his face very clearly right now, he manages to convey his eagerness by travelling hands just as well.

"I wanted to see you," He whispers while slipping his fingers in the hairs at the nape of my neck.

"You were going to see me tomorrow anyway since you promised you would see me off at the platform." I remind him.

"I wanted to see you now." His other hand fiddles with the edge of my shirt.

"Have you no self-control?" I tease.

"Apparently not," he sighs. "I thought about coming or not for a long time. I don't want to bring your father's anger down on me but tonight is the last night you're in Godric's Hollow and just an apparition away. I didn't want to miss that opportunity."

"I'm glad you decided to show up." I pull him with me up the stairs and kiss him every chance I get without the two of us tumbling down the steps.

Once we make it up to my room and I close the door behind us, I remember just in time that there are three other people in this house and if I want to ravish Cedric as thoroughly as I want to, I am going to have to come up with a solution for the noises that we'll be making. And fast because Cedric looks absolutely irresistible and apparently I have no self-control either.

"What's wrong?" He asks when I don't move with him towards the bed but stay still in my spot near the door.

"Harry's room is right there." I point to the wall behind my bed.

"I'm really not that interested in where your brother is right now."

"The walls are paper thin." I roll my eyes.

"Exactly just what do you think we'll be doing here?" He smirks while sitting down on the bed.

"I can always just kick you out, you know." I glare at him.

"You won't." He smiles before pulling out his wand. "And you're in luck for dating a wizard of age."

He mumbles a silencing spell under his breath to ensure that no one will hear anything happening in this room except of course the two of us.

"A locking charm wouldn't hurt either." I glance towards the door that makes a soft clicking noise after Cedric points his wand at it.

"Anything else you want?" He asks me slyly while putting his wand away on my nightstand.

"Yes," I whisper before slowly approaching the boy on my bed and eventually find myself hovering over Cedric.

"Anything specific you had in mind?" He smiles at me.

"Indeed," I start to unbutton his shirt. "but it requires a lot less clothing than this."

He follows my example and pulls my own shirt over my head while I continue to try and get his off. I stop however when I feel his gaze fixated on my now bare upper-half.

"What?" I frown.

"Nothing." He shakes his head before nipping at my neck again.

But clearly something crossed his mind and that would bug me as long as he doesn't say it out loud. So I harshly push him back on my mattress and glare at him.

"You can't just look at me like that and make me feel all self-conscious and then say nothing," I scowl.

"I was just thinking how beautiful you are."

"Really?" I frown disbelievingly.

"Really." He kisses me again and caresses my back with his gentle hands. "And maybe also a little hoping that no one else will ever get to see you this way."

"Possessive much?" I smile, not at all embarrassed that I'm sitting on top of him half-naked with him seeing all there is to see. I don't mind. He already has all of me, why not see it as well?

"You have no idea." He leans back up to attach his lips to mine once more.

I allow his warm hands to continue to undress me and revel in the feeling he stirs up inside of me while I do the same to him. My body moves in synch with his as if this is all I was ever meant to do. Love Cedric and have him love me in return.

I don't want to go to sleep afterwards. I am so ridiculously happy in his embrace and I know that if I fall asleep, I'll wake up and it will be the day I'll have to say goodbye to him. He seems to agree with me on this because he keeps talking to me as if to ensure himself that I'm still awake.

"Don't give the new Head Boy too much trouble, alright? He won't be getting the compensations I got for putting up with your rule-breaking whims." He runs his hand gently up and down my arm.

"Maybe I should give him the same treatment I gave the previous one." I shrug. "It seems only fair."

"Don't you dare." His eyes glower at me.

"You don't have to worry about that," I squeal once he starts tickling all my ticklish areas he's discovered over the summer. "It'll probably be some annoying goody-two-shoes anyway. Head Boys aren't really my type anyway."

"Really?" He cocks an eyebrow at me and shows me a hint of that loop-sided grin.

"I fell in love with you despite your obnoxious title and time-consuming duties, not because of it."

"Well, don't fall in love with a rule-breaker either."

"I won't," I tell him in all honesty.

Because I will never give my heart to anyone else. I wish I'm the kind of person who can just tell him that but I'm not. So instead I smile at him and pull him back into my embrace in the hopes that maybe, if I want it hard enough, morning won't come.

"Will you still want me when you're a smarty-pants healer?" I reverse the roles.

"Why do you ask me that?" He frowns at me in confusion.

"Won't it bore and annoy you when you use all those fancy new words you've learned like armagandlesympothis and I have no idea what the hell you're talking about because I'm of average intelligence?"

"That's not a real word, Danny," He smiles at me faintly.

"But I won't know that," I exclaim.

He pulls me closer until we're chest to chest and he tries to distract me from the conversation by kissing my neck.

"I could never tire of you," He whispers against my skin.

"That's true," I smile. "Even with my lower IQ I'm still too much of an interesting person for you to walk away. I'm a lot more fun than those dusty professors and tight-up slime balls in your Healer course anyway."

"I certainly don't disagree with you on that." He smiles that genuine though slightly teasing smile of his and I am remembered with a pang in my chest that it will be a while before I'll see it again after tonight.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" I whisper barely audible but he heard.

"Every day," He says with such a serious expression on his face I believe him in an instant.

"Don't exaggerate either," I laugh. "I will still have other things to do at Hogwarts than impatiently awaiting your letters."

Though I can't think of any from the top of my head.

Before I realise I'm actually falling asleep, I wake up in my cold bed without Cedric in it and my mother downstairs screaming at me and Harry to get up. When did it become morning? Last thing I remember was being a clingy girlfriend towards Cedric, something I've been doing a lot lately. If I'm not more careful, I'll be labelled as needy.

"Danny, are you up?" A knock on my door announces that Harry is already awake and dressed which is a lot more than I am.

"Don't come in!" I shout at the door in fright.

Though I'm all for Harry sharing everything with me and vice versa I think I should draw the line at him walking in my room while I'm lying naked in my bed. Not only is that too much information for my brother, it also looks a lot weirder without the matching naked boy in the bed. Plus, I'm not really sure if Cedric has unlocked my bedroom door after last night.

"Why not?"

"I'm… getting dressed."

"Okay, I'll see you downstairs then." I hear his footsteps walking away from my door and downstairs.

I quickly get out of bed and get dressed. While trying to slip my feet in my shoes, my eye falls on a little note on my bed side table.

_I wish I could kiss you good morning. But I'll see you at King's Cross in a while._

_Love,_

_Cedric_

I sigh heavily, thinking that conveying our thoughts and feelings over notes instead of actions this year is going to suck. I've never really been good with words.

I am in dire need for a satisfying breakfast and some last family quality time but when I enter the kitchen, there are two unfamiliar people in it that most certainly don't live in this house. Sure, Remus's here as well but him I expected. Those two broad men I didn't.

"Who are they?" I frown at the guys who don't even blink at me.

"They work for your father," My mother sighs annoyed before putting a plate of breakfast in front of me at the table.

"They're Aurors? What are they doing here?"

I see why they would be at the Auror's Quarter if they needed a word with their boss but what on earth are they doing at our home?

"They will be going with us to King's Cross," Harry mutters while munching on a piece of toast.

"Why? Don't you think we know the way to the station by now?"

"They're here for your protection," My father says.

"Protection against what?"

I don't get an answer from any of them but they all look at me as if I'm an air-head which I guess I am if I really need to ask what this family needs protection for, why Harry's life could possibly be in danger.

"Oh," I quickly avert my eyes and the four of us or six, I guess are all quite while we eat our breakfast.

The two men whose names are apparently Dawlish and Savage are already starting to seriously aggravate me. The second we leave the house, they don't leave our sides and in particular Harry's side who they won't even give a spare second to breathe, not even when we arrive at the platform. As if we need any more reasons to draw attention to us.

I want to be there for Harry when everyone suddenly stares at him and he must be feeling very small right now but I spot a person not too far away from me who makes me feel small as well but makes my heart grow several sizes. I want to approach my handsome boyfriend who is making his way through the crowd to get to me when a hand harshly stops me from taking one more step.

"Excuse me?" I snap at the annoying Dawlish.

"You are not allowed to leave our side," He says.

"Seriously?" I hiss. "Are you going to follow me all the way to Hogwarts?!"

He doesn't answer me but neither does he let go of my arm. These men take following orders way too seriously.

"Dad?!" I turn to my father who seems to be actually enjoying this.

"I don't know, Danny. John has a point. For all we know Cedric is a Death Eater in disguise," He smirks.

He is having fun with this! Of course Cedric isn't a Death Eater pretending to be a sweet guy but my dad just doesn't want to see me suck face with him.

"Mom?" I turn to the only person I know is capable of talking sense into my father when he's trying to stand his ground.

"Let her go, James," She sighs, clearly not pleased that she is getting dragged into this. Well, neither am I.

"But Lily-"

"James, she already didn't invite him over yesterday because you insisted. You could at least allow her to say goodbye to him."

Indeed, I didn't invite him over yesterday though that didn't exactly stop him from showing up anyway. But technically that still means I didn't disobey my father and I do deserve some credit for that.

"Fine," My father eventually gives in to his wife.

As soon as the stupid Auror lets go of me, I dive right into the crowd to get to Cedric. I stop right in front of him and look up into his bright grey eyes.

"Hey."

"Hi," I beam at him.

"I would have stayed this morning but…" He wavers.

"I understand."

"I really did want to be there to kiss you good morning."

"Then why don't you do so now?" I smile.

"Right now? Here? In front of all these people?" He seems almost shocked that I would suggest such a thing.

"I said kiss, not shag me. Though you are more than welcome to do that as well," I say in the most seductive voice I posses.

And it works because a slight blush appears on his cheeks.

"You can't just say things like that to me in public," He say softly under his breath.

"But it's okay behind closed doors?" I tease him. "You dirty boy."

"Danny…" He sighs while the blush intensifies.

"You know, you can't just tell me you'll kiss me and then not make due on that promise," I pout because he is still not kissing the life out of me.

"Your dad is trying to glare holes in my skull at this very moment. It might offend him if I-"

I don't give him the opportunity to reject me or allow him the chance to turn his head. I grab him firmly by his collar and pull him down so his lips finally meet mine again.

"I am not a patient girl, Cedric," I say once I release him.

"Clearly," He smiles at me even though I'm sure right now he's absolutely terrified that my dad will hex him.

"So next time I tell you to kiss me, kiss me."

"Duly noted."

I take a group of giggling fourth years as an opportunity to drag him to a more secluded part of the platform, push him against the wall and continue the make-out session I've been dying to have since this morning.

Only when the whistle blows to announce that the train will be leaving soon do I allow him to pull away.

"You don't want to miss the train," He breathes against my lips.

Oh, he has no idea how much I want to miss that train.

"Five more minutes," I plead with him even though I know it is not within his capabilities to create more time for me.

"The train won't wait for you, I'm afraid."

"Even better, I'll just stay in London then."

We've been through this conversation several times now. I tell him I can stay here with him and he tells me he'll come to Hogwarts with me just like I want him to. But in the end we both know that he needs to stay here and I have to be on that train.

He gently takes my face in both of his hands, a tender gesture he has done several time now but never ceases to still have the effect on me it had the very first time.

"I love you," He says so clearly to make sure I don't miss a single syllable.

"And I love you," I whisper back to him.

"But you have to go now." He presses a final kiss on my lips.

I allow him to pull away and watch him walk back to the wall everyone came through. I don't want him to go. I want to stay in his embrace for all eternity for it's the only place in the entire world I feel truly save and cherished.

"Danny!" My father standing by the Hogwarts Express is calling my name in every direction as he can't see me.

"I'm right here." I approach the man who has made it his duty to get my trunk on board.

"Where have you been?" He gives me a suspicious look which tells me it is not a good idea to tell him I was with Cedric the entire time since we've arrived at the platform.

"I was just talking to…"

I could have come up with a name, one that wouldn't stir up any kind of suspicion in my father. I could have said Kellah, Fay, even Wayne. But it had most certainly not been my intention to come up with the following lie.

"To me," A chipper voice comes from my right.

"Ginny?" My father lifts a surprised eyebrow as do I.

"You know how it is, Mr Potter. Me and Danny just had some girl business to discuss," Ginny Weasley smiles sweetly at him.

"Oh, right." My father becomes extremely uncomfortable at the mere mention of girl stuff and suddenly can't seem to get out of here fast enough. I guess concerning some things men never change.

Ginny passes us to get on the train while I say goodbye to both my parents and Remus. Harry seems to already have done that.

"Be careful, sweetheart." My mother looks at me in concern. "Take care of your brother but don't get into any trouble."

That's a bit of a contradiction but as not to worry her more than she obviously already has, I just nod at her request. I hug her, my dad and uncle Remus goodbye before getting on the train as well as one of the last people.

I wave at the three people in front of the now closed door who love me unconditionally until the train starts to move and they soon disappear from my line of vision.

"You didn't have to do that." I pick up my trunk and turn to the left with Ginny in tow. "I am perfectly capable of making up my own lies. I've had more than enough practice."

"Really?" She frowns at me amused. "And what had you been planning to tell your father than? That you spend the last half hour snogging Cedric Diggory?"

"Hey!" I turn to her so I can glare. "Some things are private!"

"If you want things to be private you might not want to do them in the middle of the platform for everyone to see."

"I'll keep that in mind," I snap at her.

Why is she talking to me? Scratch that, why is she following me through the hallways of the train in search of my brother. Oh wait, that might explain it. The girl is probably still insanely hung up on my brother and thinks sucking up to me will get her farther than her stalking has done in the past.

"Though that kiss did look pretty intense," She continues to talk.

"Are you spying on me?" I hiss.

"Please, you're not that interesting. I'm just saying I've never really pictured the two of you as such a clingy and intense couple. I mean you guys looked like a moment apart would kill you." She has no idea how close to the truth she is with that. "I don't remember you being that way last year."

I huff at her but unfortunately I know very well how right she is. Cedric and I had never been the touchy feely couple though we've never really hit our true feelings once we started going out either. But over the summer we did turn into one of those annoying couples who can't seem to function without the other's presence.

"Well, next time you'll get a boyfriend we'll see how aloof you can be," I say since I know from a pretty good source that she and Michael Corner ended things at the end of last year.

"I happen to have a boyfriend and we sure don't act like that," She scoffs.

"You do?" I turn to her in surprise. "Who?"

"I'm a little insulted you seem to find that impossible," She says but her tone doesn't sound insulted at all.

"I didn't say it was impossible, I'm just wondering who it is."

Ginny is not an ugly girl, mater of fact with the red hair and freckles, I'm sure more than one guy would consider her attractive. I'm just wondering who the guy is that doesn't seem to find it a problem that his girlfriend continuously stares at the Chosen One.

"Dean Thomas," She tells me.

"Really?"

"And again, you seem to find it hard to believe."

Honestly, I do. Since he's in my year I've come to know Dean a little better. I've always thought Ginny was a little to childish at times for Harry so I don't see why she would suddenly be mature enough for Dean. Maybe I'm not the only one who changed over the summer.

"Well, congratulations. Dean's nice."

And hot.

"So I guess you and Diggory are still going steady?"

"Why do you ask?" I squint my eyes at her. "Do you want him too?"

"No, I don't want the guy who looks at you like you're the beginning and the end of everything. I'm just wondering how you're going to make it work now that he's no longer going to Hogwarts."

Ah, the million galleon question.

"We're not doing this." I gesture between the two of us.

"Doing what?"

"We are not going to gush about our boyfriends to each other. Matter of face, we're not going to talk about anything. We won't be acting like two friends catching up after a summer."

"We're not?" She frowns at me confused.

"No, because we're not friends. Besides, I saw you two days ago. I've said all I have to say to you. That started with hello and ended right there as well," I huff.

"Okay," She says coolly. "Thanks for the clarification."

She turns around and drags her trunk back in the direction we just came from.

Fine, maybe that was a little harsher than necessary but I didn't have the patience to tell her that in a friendly way. As the situation is right now, I don't have time for friends this year anyway. I need to come up with a way to kill Voldemort and that sounds like a time-consuming occupation.


	4. Post-Umbridge Hogwarts

_Thank you __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, music anomaly **__and __**avengeme **__for your reviews. They mean a lot to me._

_Honestly, Danny is still struggling a little with finding what she's going to be after she graduates. I think it is normal for every teenager to have some trouble finding the right path for the future and that's one of the many issues Danny will struggle with during this year. _

_I hope you liked the chemistry between her and Cedric in the previous chapter. I feel like that's changing as their relationship progresses and they grow up. I wanted to show you that they are growing more securely in their relationship, without destroying the spark they have between them. As for their meet-ups during the Hogsmeade trips, I hadn't even realised yet how they only had one in sixth year. But no worries, I have found a spin to it._

_Yes, Danny was unnecessarily harsh to Ginny but that kind of characterises her. It takes some patience and persistence to break down Danny's walls enough to befriend her. Something Cedric certainly can agree with and if Ginny wants to be her friend, she will have to try harder for it. I am planning for Danny and Ginny to have a strange relationship during this part of the story. I kind of like the Ginny I have in my mind though I've always found her so annoying in the movies so I'm not quite sure yet on how big a role she'll be playing in the bigger picture. _

_It is fun to read your comments, especially when they make me think of new scenes. So thank you for being an inspiration as well. :) _

**Chapter 4**

It takes me at least another ten minutes and a lot of annoying glances in my direction until I find Harry's compartment. In fact I don't know if I would have found him at all had his compartment door not been swarmed by giggling fourth years at the very moment I passed it.

"You ask him!"

"No, you!"

"I'll do it!"

The tallest girl in the group with long dark hair and a bold expression on her face opens the compartment door and I can see my brother looking up at her in surprise over her shoulder. Finally, finding the Chosen One is more difficult than finding Voldemort himself.

"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," The girl speaks to him in a loud voice that makes me think she's trying a tad too hard.

I don't have the patience for her and her friends. So I just push past the three other girls who jump up almost in fright when they see it's me.

"Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them." She glances at Luna and Neville who are sitting with Harry.

"You're wasting your time, Romilda Vane." I push past her as well and throw my trunk in the compartment before turning back around and glaring at her. "Harry won't come with you because he's gay."

I close the door right in front of her nose and sit down across from Neville while Harry gapes at me.

"What the hell, Danny?!" He yells at me.

"What?" I shrug. "Did you want to go with her to their compartment? If you did, I'm sorry for misreading your appalled expression."

"No, I didn't. But now she thinks I'm gay!"

"Oh, are you not ready to come out of the closet yet?" I grin at him.

" Funny, Danny!" He snaps. "She's going to tell everyone now and that's another rumour I don't need."

"Fine," I give in.

When I open the compartment door, I see Romilda Vane and her group of friends walking down the hallway to their compartment dejectedly.

"Hey, Romilda!" I shout at her. "Harry's not really gay. I was just trying to let you down easy. I thought it was nicer than telling you that Harry finds you creepy!"

The girl's eyes widen at me before she turns back around and storms into her own compartment.

"What?" I shrug when Harry is still shooting a displeased look in my direction. "You told me to rectify the lie I told her and I did. What more do you want?"

"Nothing," He shakes his head.

"Will you be a doll and hoist my trunk into the luggage rank, please?" I ask my brother sweetly who, even though it's clearly against his will, still does what I ask of him.

"Thanks," I flop down in my seat once more. "Hi, Neville. Hi, Luna. How was your summer?"

Last year I had been completely opposed to sharing a compartment with the two of them but after what happened at the Ministry last year I have developed a certain fondness for the air-head and klutz sitting in front of me.

Luna once again talks about some imaginative creature she studied over the summer with her father while Neville seems to avoid my gaze once he mutters something under his breath about his.

"What's wrong with Neville?" I lean over and whisper in Harry's ear. "He seems almost afraid of me."

"A lot of people are afraid of you," He simply says.

"That's because they all fear I'll say something they really don't want to hear about themselves."

Some people call it insults, I call it honesty.

"Well, then I'm guessing Neville thinks you'll say something horrid to him."

"I have nothing mean to say about Neville," I tell him in all honesty.

"Nobody is going to believe that," Harry frowns.

"He was ready to lay down his life to save your ass last year." I remind him. "He's my favourite person on the whole train."

For the next hour I have a little chat with Luna about Wrackspurts, little invisible creatures that fly into your brain and give you a head-ache. At least that's what they are if I should believe her. I don't of course but it's actually rather amusing to follow her in her amazing imagination. I'm sure her head must be a really fun place to be in, as opposed to Harry's. I'm sure her dreams wouldn't make me feel depressed.

"Ah, I knew something was missing about this train ride," I exclaim once Granger and Weasley enter our compartment after their prefects' meeting. "There was no one to annoy me but luckily the two of you have come to redeem that."

"If you don't wish to be here, by all means, jump of the train," Weasley grumbles before throwing himself on one of the benches.

I raise a surprised eyebrow at him. It's the first time he actually came up with a remark that made sense instead of the usual 'Shut the bloody hell up!'. It's refreshing.

"Guess what?" He turns to Harry. "Malfoy's not doing prefect duties. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed."

Harry immediately jumps up in interest. Oh please, Weasley! For God's sake, do not rile him up on this whole Malfoy-is-up-to-something-issue.

"What did he do when he saw you?"

"The usual," Weasley shrugs as if he doesn't even realise how interested Harry is in the answer. "Not like him though, is it? Why isn't he out there bullying first years?"

"Maybe even Malfoys eventually get bored of always passing their time in the same way?" I suggest.

"Or maybe he preferred the Inquisitorial Squad," Granger wonders out loud. "Maybe being a prefect seems a bit tame after that."

"Oh, the Inquisitorial Squad," I sigh. "Those were the days."

"Are you serious?" She frowns at me.

"You're not really good at picking up on sarcasm, are you?" I glance at the girl who thinks I'm actually being sincere. "Do you honestly think I'm nostalgic to the time the toad ran a tight ship at Hogwarts? Though it was rather nice to have all that power…"

"I don't think so," Harry doesn't seem to have let go of the previous topic. "I think-"

But we'll never know what he was thinking though it probably was something of the absurd lines of Malfoy being up to shady Death Eater's business. Before Harry could tell us all about his conspiracy theories, the door of the compartment slid open and blushing girl looked into our company.

"I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom and Harry P-Potter," She says while blushing which is apparently a new effect Harry has on girls. Last year they ran away screaming and this year they're dying for his attention? Sometimes girls don't even make sense to me.

The two boys accept the two scrolls apparently meant for them and I glance at Harry's while he reads it.

_Harry,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor H.E.F. Slughorn_

"He calls you Harry? On a first name basis with our new professor already, big brother? I smell a bromance. And even though I'm sure Slughorn is an old and gross man, it's still un upgrade from that one." I point to a scowling Weasley.

"Who's professor Slughorn?" Neville is confused by the similar note he got from a middle-aged man he's never met before. I can see why he would find that slightly suspicious.

"New teacher," Harry tells him. "Well, I suppose we'll have to go, won't we?"

"Wait a minute," I turn to the girl who had been trying to leave. "Where's my invitation?"

"I d-don't know. I only got those two."

"I'm not invited?!" I shout. "That can't be right. Are you sure you don't have a scroll with Danny Potter on it?"

"I'm sorry," She squeaks out before feeling the compartment.

"Do you want to be invited?" Granger frowns.

"Are you kidding me? It says 'a bite of lunch'. I'm starving!" I throw myself once more on the bench for dramatic effect.

"I'll get something back for you," Harry rolls his eyes and gets up.

He probably thinks he's being subtle about it but I see him slip the invisibility cloak in his pocket. I frown at him for it but he doesn't seem to notice. What is he planning to do with that at a lunch meeting? Though I can understand his need to want to disappear for a moment. As soon as he walks through the corridor, people peek out of their own compartments to get a look at _the _Harry Potter.

I realise I will die of boredom in this closed off space about two seconds after Harry and Neville leave. I can barely stand being in the same tower as Weasley and Granger, let alone the same compartment for the rest of the train ride. So as not to get suicidal from the terrible companionship, I get up and announce I'll be going for a walk.

"Where are you going?" Granger asks me.

"To get changed and most likely pick on a first year. I think it will be therapeutic for me." I nod my head, completely agreeing with my own idea.

"Don't you dare terrorize those children," She scolds.

"Or what?" I cock an eyebrow.

"You'll get yourself a detention."

"From who? You?" I laugh, knowing all too well she would actually give me a detention. "You can't punish me for something you didn't witness with your own two eyes."

I shrug one final time and leave the compartment to make my way over to the toilets to get changed. It's still a little while until we'll arrive at Hogwarts but wearing my school uniform actually makes me believe I'll manage to blend in with everyone else.

Though I've worn the uniform all year long last year, the uniform seems not to fit me anymore. The shirt is too tight and the skirt too short. And it has to be freaking appallingly short for me to consider it too much skin-showing. With a frown on my face, I change the clothes to fit my figure more, wondering if maybe I haven't only gotten clingy over the summer but also fat.

On my way back to the compartment I hope that Harry will have returned by now. I did waste some amount of time getting changed, glaring at students in the hall way who weren't the least bit subtle about it and having a little chat with Seamus I ran into.

However, I stop in my tracks on the way back when I hear a familiar sound. There aren't a lot of people who snort like a sea-turtle when amused and if my guess is correct that noise belongs to one of the rare people I consider my friend.

I slide open the door of the compartment I heard it from after knocking.

"Danny!" Wayne enthusiastically greets me when he notices my presence.

"Hi, Wayne,' I smile back at him and throw the three other boys who I'm guessing are his friends a quick glance.

I had always kind of imagined them as the three stooges from the way Wayne described them to me. But they actually seem quite normal. And I certainly notice the guy sitting in the corner is above average good-looking.

"I saw you at the platform this morning but you were… busy," He grins.

I don't blush over his comment that makes his friends snicker. Getting my cheeks to tint red is quite a hard accomplishment and will require more than a little teasing.

"I see you haven't changed over the summer either," I smile.

"It would have been a waste if I had," He laughs and gestures for me to settle down in the seat next to him which I do.

"Or an improvement. There's always room for that," I smirk.

"Very funny." He gives me a playful glare. "Danny, meet my friends. That's Justin."

The boy sitting on Wayne's other side whom I vaguely recognise from some of my classes leans forward to smile at me in greeting.

"Ernie," Wayne points to another familiar yet boyish and friendly face across from me.

"And I'm Anthony Goldstein." The guy sitting in the corner introduces himself.

"Nice to meet you guys," I say even though I already kind of know them since they're all in my year. I've just never bothered to pay them any attention before.

I stay much longer in their compartment than I intended and I am actually enjoying myself here. Maybe I have found the kind of people I can get along with: Hufflepuffs. Cedric certainly proves that. And even though I recognise some of his better traits in these four boys as well, I realise there is something so typically Cedric that none of these guys have.

"It looks like we'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon. We should probably get changed," Justin throws me a meaningful look.

"Right," I get up, realising these boys are most likely not comfortable with changing in front of a girl which I can definitely understand. "I should head back to my own compartment anyway."

"You can always come back later," Wayne suggests.

"That's okay. I want to go check up on Harry," I tell him and as soon as I do the three others suddenly look at me as if I've mentioned I'm going to have tea with the Minister. Which I guess might be less impressive than having a chat with the Harry Potter in their eyes I guess.

I quickly slip into the corridor when the look on their faces has made me more than uncomfortable after promising Wayne I'll talk to him later and that earned me a strange look in return which tells me there is apparently something he is eager to discuss with me.

When I make it back to the compartment I had spend the first part of the journey to the school in, I unfortunately register all too soon that my brother still isn't here.

"Harry isn't back yet?" I sigh at his absence. "How long can people have a bite of lunch?"

I settle back in my seat and notice with a frown that Neville is sitting on the bench across from me. If he's back, then where is Harry?

"What do you mean?" Granger turns to me. "We thought Harry was with you."

"No," I say slowly. "I haven't seen him since he left for Slughorn's social get-together."

Me and Granger simultaneously turn to look at Neville, the only person here who might have a clue as to where Harry has disappeared to.

"Neville, where's Harry?"

"I don't know," He fidgets nervously. "He said he had some things to do. I assumed it was with you."

"Clearly not," I snap. "Or else I wouldn't be asking you."

"Calm down, Danny," Granger says. "Harry can take care of himself. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about and he'll have a logical explanation."

"Like what? Because I can't think of anything and I have a pretty vivid imagination!"

She seems to think on that for a while but even her overdeveloped brain can't come up with a plausible explanation.

"I'm going to go find him." I jump up. "He must be somewhere on this train, right?"

He better be. I don't want to think of what could have happened to him if he's no longer on the Hogwarts Express.

"Wherever he is, he won' t be on the train much longer," Luna interjects while staring out the window with a dreamy gaze.

"What makes you say that?" I frown.

She seems rather convinced of what she says which makes me wonder why she is so sure. As far as I know she doesn't have 'the sight' though she certainly speaks as if she does.

"Because we're arriving at the platform," She points to our rapidly approaching destination.

Though I had been hoping the train ride wouldn't take too long, now that it is basically over I'm worried it will be even harder to find Harry in the chaos that will surely ensue with all the students getting off the train and trying to get a carriage.

"I don't think he would get off the train without telling us," I say. "I'm going to look for him."

I leave the compartment to search for my brother while the others promise me they'll look for him on the platform.

While students keep pushing me around in their eagerness to leave the train, I manage to glance in a few compartments to see if Harry might be in there but all of them are empty. I make my way to where Neville last saw him, checking everywhere for a sign of my brother but so far this search party is quite unsuccessful. More than twenty minutes have passed and the train is eerily abandoned by now, except for me and probably – hopefully – Harry. People don't just disappear from a moving train, right?

"Danny?"

I would have turned around immediately in hopes that the only other person left on this train calling out to me might be the one I've been looking for, had the voice not clearly belonged to a woman. When I do turn around I come face to face with a pink-haired woman whose hair is no longer pink.

"Tonks?" I frown in confusion as to what she is doing here.

"Why are you still on the train?" She ushers me to the nearest exit.

"Tonks, I can't find Harry anywhere." I clutch onto her arm. "No one has seen him in at least two hours."

The new brunette frowns as well now, clearly understanding why such a thing would be worrisome.

"I will find him," She eventually says. "But you have to go to the castle now."

"What?! No! I can't just leave him!"

"It will be okay," She tries to reassure me. "I will find him, trust me."

I don't want to trust her. What if I do and her searching abilities as an auror aren't as amazing as I need them to be? We would both be responsible for losing Harry Potter. I can assure you that nobody wants to be guilty of that.

"You better find him," I eventually sigh because she looks like she'll push me out of the train if I don't go willingly.

"I will," She promises while steering me to get off the train. "Now, if you hurry, you can still catch a carriage to the castle."

"Hey, Tonks?" I ask her when I set foot on the platform. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I am stationed at Hogsmeade to oversee the safety measurements around here."

"Oh," I am surprised though I shouldn't be. Of course the school would hire aurors to make sure the students are safe. "Okay."

"Off you go now." She gestures in the direction of the last carriage still standing by the platform.

I notice a lone figure standing by it while I can see three others peek at me from behind the window.

"You didn't have to wait for me," I say when I approach Granger.

"We wanted to make sure you got a carriage to the castle. I'm guessing you didn't find Harry?"

"No, I didn't," I shake my head sadly. "But Tonks promised that she would continue to look for him and she's an auror so I guess she has a bigger chance to actually find him than me."

"What was Tonks doing on the train?"

"Final sweep or something, I guess. She's staying at Hogsmeade to-"

The last words of my sentence die a quick death in my throat when I notice something that makes the blood freeze in my veins. The closer I got to the carriage, the more of it I got to see. And where there was nothing to see last year, this time around I can see the big terrifying creatures pulling it. The thestrals look exactly like I always imagined but the fact that I can actually see them now make them more frightening than I ever possibly could have expected.

"Danny?" I barely register her voice. "What are you looking at?"

The tight leather-like skin pulled around their very noticeable ribcages and their white glowing eyes remind me of death. A certain death in specific. The one who makes me capable of seeing these creatures now and that has plagued mine and Harry's dreams all summer. In our nightmares I have seen him die over and over again but in my conscious mind I have never quite relived the moment as accurately as I am right now.

"Can you see them?" She whispers carefully. "The thestrals?"

I slowly nod my head without looking away from them. I don't think I can. They make me feel sad, angry and helpless. Basically, they make go through the seven stages of mourning all over again.

"Yes," I breathe out shakily.

"Oh,… you know, people can only see them after they've come to terms with the loss of a dear-"

"Don't!" I eventually snap my head in her direction. "Just don't say anything."

I keep my gaze away from them while climbing into the carriage Neville, Luna and Weasley are sitting in. While we ride to the castle in silence I try not the let the morbid vibe those thestrals ooze out get to me but I'm failing miserably at it. And their spookiness only enhanced the constricting feeling I experience every time I don't know if Harry is okay.

Sitting through the sorting ceremony without my brother next to me is the equivalent of torture. Where the hell is he?! If Tonks had found him, he would be here by now. And the glimmer of hope I had that maybe Harry really had been selfish enough to get off the train without letting any of us know, got crushed the second we sat down at the Gryffindor Table and noticed he wasn't anywhere in the vicinity.

"Maybe we don't have anything to worry about? If Harry was really in any danger, I would know, right?" I whisper frantically to Granger and Weasley while leaning closer to them than I would ever be willing to under normal circumstances. "I would have that terrible feeling in my gut that something is seriously wrong with him if that were the case, like I've had every other time. I'm not feeling at all the way I did in fourth year with the maze or even last year at the Ministry. And maybe this unsettling feeling I have is standard sibling concern the way sane people experience it. If he is in a life-threatening situation right now, our twin telepathy thing should alert me to that. I would know. I mean, I would _know_, right?"

They both just gape at me with no sign of understanding on their facial expressions. It's not like I am talking gibberish, am I?

"What exactly," Weasley slowly says as if trying to make sense to himself of what I said. "do you mean by 'impending gut feeling'?"

"You know what I mean!" I snap at the idiot. "That sense of doom that takes over my body whenever Harry is fighting Death Eaters or facing Voldemort or finding another creative way to die."

Still gaping!

"You… have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"Realisation eventually dawns on me. "Oh, I guess Harry doesn't tell you guys everything. It would have been useful to know that."

Before they can ask me anything else about my gut feeling, a boy sits down across from me and next to Granger, a boy covered in blood.

"Harry?" I barely get out of my constricting throat.

"Blimey, what've you done to your face?" Weasley's eyes seem on the verge of popping out of their sockets.

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Harry frowns.

What's not wrong with it?! He disappears for hours on end and when he finally returns his clothes are shrivelled and he looks as if a blood bank exploded on top of him.

"You're covered in blood," Granger says. "Come here."

With one little wisp of her wand the dried-up blood disappears and Harry looks somewhat presentable again.

"What the hell happened, Harry?" I ask him anxiously as if my nerves have not yet realised that he is somewhat safe. "You had me freaking out!"

"Not right now," He says curtly.

"Yes, right now," I scoff. "I've looked everywhere for you and you-"

"Later," He says with such an urgency I am actually scared to go in against him on this.

Granger starts telling him what he's missed during the sorting ceremony while he piles food onto his plate. I just frown at my empty one. So Harry wasn't close to death the way I imagined him but judging by the previous blood stains something had clearly gone wrong on the train and I have been completely oblivious to it because I felt nothing. Though my gut feeling has been pretty accurate in the past maybe it's not something we can count on when push comes to shove. Maybe, just like Harry's, my gut feeling is only right about 90% of the time and it is bound to fail at some point.

"The very best of evenings to you!"

I am pulled out of my musings when Dumbledore welcomes us all. I haven't even noticed him getting up and the Great Hall growing quiet.

But what I do notice other than the fact that Hagrid is eagerly waving in our direction with every lack of grace a professor should at least pretend he possesses, I am surprised by the sight of Dumbeldore's right hand. And judging by the gasp coming from Granger and the murmurs from all around me, I'm guessing I'm not the only one whose perceptive. His hand is black, as if it died. There aren't a lot of things that can't be healed with magic other than the obvious ones. If Madame Pomfrey or even Dumbledore himself can't fix whatever is wrong with his hand, something awful must have happened to it. And if I would have to take a guess, I would go with dark magic because it seems to be the root of all problems.

"We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn," A man sitting on the right end of the table who I hadn't even noticed before stands up to nod a greeting to the students. He's bald, very well-fed and seems to have a bit of an egocentric streak. All by all he seems to be the perfect embodiment of a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."

Potions? Potions?! Everybody else seems to be as shocked as me, as is Harry who, if I remember correctly, is the one who told me Slughorn would be taking up the Defence class. And what does this mean for Snape? Is he retiring? If he is, than what the hell is he doing sitting at the staff table?

"Professor Snape, meanwhile," Dumbledore continues calmly as if he doesn't notice the commotion his words have caused amongst his students. "will be taking over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

What?!

"No!" Harry basically shouts his displeasure through the entire Great Hall.

I don't get it. Snape has been begging Dumbledore for years for that position only to be refused it time and time again because Dumbledore doesn't trust the man to teach defence against his previous favourite occupation.

The Slytherin table applauds for their Head's victory but all the others just continue to stare at him in disbelief.

"Now, as everybody in this Hall knows," Dumbledore calls the attention back to him when people are done expressing their surprise at the revelation of the evening. "Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining at strength. I cannot emphasise strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them – in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always with the utmost regard for your own and each other's safety.

"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say goodnight. Pip pip!"

'Pip pip?' You can say a lot about Dumbledore but not that he doesn't have his own creative ways to break a tense atmosphere.

All the students get up from their seats and shuffle out the Great Hall in the direction of their common rooms and dormitories. But not me. I stay seated at the Gryffindor table with Harry and Weasley, impatiently awaiting the departure of the other students in hearing vicinity. Granger couldn't resist the call of her prefect responsibility and took off to guide the new students to the tower.

"What really happened to your nose?" Weasley asks Harry once most people have left and I pay close attention to the next conversation.

"Malfoy broke it when he noticed me spying on him from underneath the cloak," He begrudgingly admits.

He studies our expressions as if expecting either of us to burst out into laughter. It's not funny, at all. Malfoy broke Harry's nose. I'm going to break his freaking neck!

"But listen to what he was saying before he found out I was there…"

And then he goes and tells us this ridiculous story of Malfoy telling his friends he is basically a minion for the big bogeyman himself. If Harry thinks this is what's going to convince me and the others that his suspicions are right, he is going to be sorely disappointed.

"He was just showing off for Parkinson." Surprisingly Weasley seems to be just as unconvinced as I am. "What kind of mission could You-Know-Who have given him?"

"Harry," I say sternly. "Face the fact that Malfoy has no value to the man,… thing. Your instincts aren't right this time. Just admit defeat on this one."

He seems almost insulted that we still refuse to follow his delusion accusations. I sight a final time and get up to head to my dorm as well. It has been a long and emotionally challenging day. Tomorrow I need all the energy for the first day of class and to think of a perfect way to get back at Malfoy for breaking my brother's nose.


	5. Starting Fresh (Sort of)

_I figured it was time to give you a new chapter so… TADAAA!_

_**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__and __**music anomaly**__: Thank you so much for your great reviews! Always a joy! And by all means, guess away. Sometimes you're right, sometimes you're way off and sometimes you're heading in the right direction. But it is always nice to read where you think all of this is going :)_

_I'm feeling a little underappreciated lately :( And though I will never quit a story for lack of response, my ego still needs a little boost sometimes…_

**Chapter 5**

Of course I was late for breakfast the next day. After lazing around all summer you couldn't expect me to immediately get accustomed to waking up on such an ungodly hour. People are supposed to be asleep at 8 o'clock in the morning, not dragging themselves down the stairs to the Great Hall. It is only when I fill my stomach with eggs and bacon that I at least look like I'm back to the land of the living.

"Danny?" My brother calls my attention when he's finally done trying to convince Hermione that Malfoy was telling the truth yesterday on the train and though she didn't immediately shoot down his theory, I could tell she didn't exactly believe it either. "Please tell me at least you are still taking Care of Magical Creatures?"

"Of course I am," I shrug before grabbing a second piece of toast. "Even though I'm more inclined now towards Potions Master, especially since Slughorn is probably more likely to help me with that than Snape was, I'd still like the option of working with magical creatures in the future. And I may have many doubt of Hagrid's capacities as a teacher, at least you can't say his classes are boring. Unless he's teaching about Flobberworms of course. "

"Good, then at least one of us will still be taking Hagrid's class."

"Wait," I turn to the inseparable trio. "None of you are taking the class?"

They all shake their head.

"Great, so I get to be the one to tell an emotional giant that his favourite students don't want to take his course anymore?" I scoff. "Hell no, tell him yourself!"

"We would but we don't take his class," Weasley says.

"Well, when he asks and he certainly will, I'll just tell him I have no idea why you guys aren't there."

We are interrupted once the owls fly in to the Great Hall and sweep down on the four house tables. To my surprise three of them land next to my plate and each of them begs me with their eyes to open their letter first. I recognise two of them and firstly reach out to the big barn owl that belongs to my dad and gives me an affectionate nibble.

It's a pretty standard note from my parents and I'm sure Harry will have received a similar one. They ask if I have arrived well and if there are any major changes to the teaching staff. I would love to see my dad's face when I write him that Snape is our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. I'm sure he'll be the first one to start up a petition for Snape's resignation.

I recognise the second owl as Cedric's and eagerly tear open the envelope.

'_Dear Danny,_

_Though you've been gone for barely a day, I already miss you. I've never made an attempt to write a love letter before but for you I will try. _

_I wish for you to know how much I truly love you, how strongly already I long to have you back in my arms and how I would love nothing more than to be able to tell you in person how breath-taking I find you. Never in this lifetime will I understand what I have done to deserve having found a love as amazing as ours. Even if you do not agree with me, I count myself the luckiest man alive to be the receiver of your love. You make me laugh, you make me cry, you make me shout out in frustration and I would not wish it any other way. You evoke feelings inside of me like no one else ever could or will._

_Write to me soon with news of when I shall see you again._

_Truly and ever yours,_

_Cedric'_

I can't help the blissful smile creeping upon my face while reading the letter. Cedric's written words are exactly what I need right now and I can only imagine how much better they would have sounded if I could have heard them fall off his lips.

"What are you reading?" Harry frowns at my creepy smile. "A letter from mom?"

"No," I snort. "Definitely not a letter from mom."

"From who then?" He tries to glance at the piece of parchment in my hands.

"From Cedric, and unless you want to be able to paint very vivid pictures of my love life in your mind, I suggest you look away," I smirk at my brother who averts his gaze embarrassed.

There is nothing explicit or dirty written in the letter, not that I would have minded if it was the case. But I consider my relationship to be private and I am honestly not comfortable discussing it with people who have nothing to do with it.

I don't have much time left so I put the third letter in my bag without opening it, vaguely recognising the handwriting.

After breakfast, every sixth-year Gryffindor has a little one-on-one with McGonagall to discuss our new schedules and OWL results. Not much needs to be said about mine. She agrees with me that I have all the desired scores to continue the classes I want for my NEWTS. When I tell her that I have set my mind on becoming a Potions Master now, she advices me to ask Slughorn about being a sort of mentor to me.

With the exception of Granger and some brainiac Ravenclaws, I have one of the most packed schedules in our year. While most students take an average course of four, maybe five NEWTS, I have decided to take on eight since I couldn't bear to drop any of my classes, fearing that one of them might contain knowledge vital for my survival.

"Do you have a free period now as well?" Harry asks me.

"No, I don't," I shake my head. "I have History of Magic in fifteen minutes."

"You're still taking that class?" Weasley looks at me disbelievingly. "Why?"

"Because it's interesting," I say, which earns me two sceptic looks. "Fine, it's not interesting but I thought it might be handy to have some knowledge on the subject. There's a reason the class was mandatory the previous five years."

"Yes, for torturing purpose only," Weasley mutters.

"I'm guessing I'll be taking the class without any of you?" I get up and swing my bag over my shoulder.

"Actually, I have it as well." Granger simultaneously rises from the bench with me.

"Well, lets go then." I walk out of the Great Hall, expecting her to follow me.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Granger carefully says when she has caught up with me, which alerts me that I should probably take this the wrong way. "But didn't you have a Poor on History of Magic?"

"I did," I simply nod.

"Yet you are allowed in the NEWT class?" She frowns.

"McGonagall told me that Binns would make an exception since Harry had passed out during the examination. Which I think is very nice though highly unbelievable. I'm sticking to the theory that so little people willingly sign up for this NEWT class that Binns is happy with any student he can get."

And I am sure there is more truth to my theory than there is to McGonagall's little white lie once Granger and I set foot in the classroom and realise that it is empty, save for a Ravenclaw girl I've never noticed before. But then again, I'm not really perceptive when it comes to my fellow students.

"How many NEWTS are you taking anyway?" Granger glances at my full schedule once we sit down at a desk.

"Eight."

"Have you stopped taking any courses at all?" She wonders.

"Arithmancy," I say. "Because I really suck at it and professor Vector doesn't take on pity students."

"I don't see Defence Against the Dark Arts either," She points at my time table.

"That's because I only had an Acceptable on my OWL and since Snape is teaching the subject now, it's not enough to be allowed in the class. But I am not giving up just yet. I am determined to persuade Snape to allow me to take the class and I am willing to bully him into it the entire year if that's what it takes."

Normally I wouldn't be so eager to get in a class taught by Snape but in times of war, Defence might be the most important class to attend. It might not be my favourite or best subject like it is for Harry but it certainly is necessary.

Five minutes into class I start to seriously doubt my decision to go for my History of Magic NEWT. I don't think knowledge on the giant wars is going to save my life in the near or far future. On the other hand, this is the perfect moment to occupy myself with other things like finally reading the last letter I got this morning which I had shoved into my pocket. I flatten the shrivelled up note and read it with a frown.

'_Room of Requirement, tonight at nine._

_Wayne'_

Not that I mind a little rule-breaking after hours but as far as I remember, we didn't make any plans for that. So why does he want to meet up with me tonight? Maybe it has something to do with the strange look he gave me on the train yesterday but I don't see what could be so secretive he can't just tell me in the hallway.

After History of Magic comes Herbology and after that Charms. I am already exhausted by the time it's lunch and I still have Care of Magical Creatures and Potions later on today. What on earth was I thinking when I signed up for eight NEWTS?!

During lunch I catch up with Harry who apparently has had quite the eventful day so far. He's had his first Defence lesson from Snape and apparently has been dumb enough to talk back at him. Now I am probably the first one to encourage anyone to speak their mind as bold and bras as they can come up with, but that was not a smart move on his part. And since it has earned him a detention, not one to easily repeat I hope.

While I don't scold him nearly as much as Granger does for it, I do start to worry about my brother's skills at keeping a low profile. It was not a success last year and it doesn't look like this one will be any better. It certainly is just as important this time around.

Some guy interrupt the meal by asking Harry when try-outs will be which doesn't really interest me since I know for a fact Harry doesn't have any idea yet when that will be. But the bloke does hand a note to Harry which is from Dumbledore and invites him to start their private lessons together soon. While Harry rejoices over that fact that means he can't go to detention with Snape which happens to be on the same day, I give him a vicious glare from across the table once I realise his two friends aren't as surprised by this piece of information as I am.

"Private lessons?" I sneer. "When were you going to tell me about that?"

"Euhm…" He looks to the two others for back-up but neither of them is dumb enough to answer for him. "Now?"

"Really? Because it seems like you've known about it for a while," I hiss.

"I was going to tell you…"

"But then you just decided not to?"

"You were in Romania at the time Dumbledore told me about this."

"And you haven't had the chance to talk to me since then?" I glare at him.

"Danny, please," He sighs and sounds tired. "don't make this about you."

"Oh," I grab my bag and get off the bench. "I am perfectly aware it is never about me."

If I thought lunch was bad, I am up for a real challenge when I turn up for my Care of Magical Creatures class right after lunch and realise I am the only one taking it. The sight of Hagrid waiting for any more students to come makes me incredibly uncomfortable. Him questioning me on where my brother and his friends are only increases that.

"Truth is, Hagrid," I eventually sigh. "Harry isn't taking the class this year, neither are Hermione and Ron."

I can really hex them right now for making me be the deliverer of bad news to one of the most sensitive people on the planet.

"What are ye sayin'?" He frowns.

"Well, they're really busy with all the NEWTS they need for their future careers. They couldn't take this class as well though they really adore it," I make up excuses. "But it was just too much to take on."

I can tell he's trying his very best to believe my lie and I am worried he'll question me on it so I quickly change the subject.

"So what will we be learning today?"

The term is applied loosely since it's supposed to be 'I'. I am the only one here, besides Hagrid but I do hope he already knows the stuff he's teaching.

"Well," He unwillingly starts his class. "I was goin' te teach abou' Horklumps."

Horklumps?! If there are any creatures more boring than Flobberworms, it's Horklumps. They're pink mushrooms that reproduce faster than garden gnomes. It's more of a vegetable than it is an animal really.

"I had been hoping," I start. "that now that the group has… been reduced to a more practical size, we would learn about animals more compatible to the interest of your class."

"Like wha'?" He frowns.

"There are so many creatures to pick from: unicorns, dragons, merpeople. Just please don't, and I am begging you here, teach me about something as inanimate as a horklump."

"You wanna learn abou' dragons?" His face suddenly lights up.

"More than anything. But unless it's in an extremely secure environment, I think we should stick to strictly theoretical classes," I add quickly when I imagine Hagrid having live dragons over for a class. As awesome as that would be, I do not trust him with my safety. I would get terrible burns all over and, knowing his fondness for murderous animals, he'd probably blame it on me for 'provoking' the fifty feet tall reptile.

"But wha' better way te learn than by practicin'?" he seems to be genuinely confused over it.

"I think, as a sixth year student, managing a dragon might be a bit out of my league. Though I might want to do that after I graduate," I shrug.

That is if I make it to graduation day without getting killed by one of Hagrid's pets. It's not as if they can attack another student. I'm the only one!

"Like a dragon keepe'?"

"Exactly like a dragon keeper," I exclaim. "Like Charlie Weasley at the Romanian Sanctuary."

"You been there?"

"Yeah, and it was amazing."

For the next hour we bond over some of the most dangerous magical creatures known to man. Though I've never hid the fact that I find Hagrid an abysmal teacher, we do have a mutual fascination and it gains me a promise out of him that the next class will be answering to my desires. I just hope the creature we'll be studying won't try to mutilate me.

After my class with Hagrid a.k.a. our chat, I am favouring a career as a magizoölogist again. But my next class is Potions and I'll probably enjoy that as well, especially since Snape no longer teaches the subject. I have certainly adored my time spend at the dragon reservation but maybe the whole dragon keeper idea is just a dream. A nice one, really, but also a distant one. My future as a Potions Master just might be a more likely one.

The walk from Hagrid's cabin to the dungeons isn't a long one but somehow I still manage to almost arrive too late at Potions. But because I am the last person to enter the classroom, I am stuck with only two options involving the seating arrangements. On one side there is Vincent Crabbe, the dim-witted Slytherin who looks at everyone as if they are something edible he'd like to shove in a blender. But on the other side, the second optional seat is next to Ronald Weasley. Everyone knows I don't like the guy but this is the kind of situation where you have to ask yourself who do you dislike the least. It's a close call but eventually I reluctantly slip into the seat next to Weasley.

"There's another spot over there," He nods his head in Crabbe's direction, clearly equally displeased with his new Potions partner.

"I know but even your company is better than his," I have to admit. "Just don't let it get to your head, okay? You're simply the lesser of two evils. Don't think this means I reciprocate your misplaced romantic feelings for me."

"Mispl- I don't have any romantic feelings for you!" He sounds clearly disgusted with the mere thought of it.

"Says the guy who stalked me all the way to my dorm and forced his tongue down my throat."

"That – You gave me a love potion!" His face turns red quicker than I've ever seen it do that before.

"Details," I shrug.

I don't want to be reminded of that dreadful violation of my mouth either but if it serves to piss him off, I will gladly endure the horrid memory.

"Now then," Slughorn calls his class' attention. "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your NEWTs. You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?"

I was too far in the back to properly recognise any of the liquids in the cauldrons but I probably wouldn't even have gotten the chance to answer with the speed Granger's hand keeps shooting in the air.

"It's Veritaserum, a colourless, odourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth," she says once Slughorn appoints her.

I certainly am interested in finding out what he'll teach us about that potion. There can't be much I don't know of it yet now that I've brewed and resisted it myself.

The second cauldron, also recognised by Granger, contains Polyjuice Potion and though I've never made that one before, I'm convinced it can't be that hard if Granger succeeded in making it in her second year.

The last potion is Amortentia and I am even more confident now that I will be able to pass this class easily since I've already brewed two of the potions before even entering this NEWT class.

"May I ask you name, my dear?" Slughorn asks Granger.

He, in shrill contrast to other teachers, doesn't seem to find her all-knowing attitude as annoying but instead he seems almost impressed. Maybe I will start to miss having this class being taught by Snape. At least he scolded her whenever she was being an insufferable know-it-all.

"Hermione Granger, sir."

"Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"

I don't think I'm going to like this man very much if he will continue to measure people's value by who they are related to. Sure, that practically makes me a gold mine but I don't like the way he thinks.

"No, I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born, you see."

I can see some of the Slytherins whispering a probably offensive comment under their breaths to their friends when she says that. I almost feel bad for her over it but then Slughorn's next words remind me of the fact that I really shouldn't.

"Oho! _'One of my best friends is Muggle-born and she's the best in our year!'_ I'm assuming this is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"

My head immediately shoots up in distain. He called _her _ the best in our year!? What about me? I'm the one who helped him study for his OWL potions last year!

"Yes, sir," Harry says.

I give the two of them the stink eye and my glare only intensifies when Slughorn actually rewards Granger with twenty points for being a wise ass. I know that helps my house but I really wish he hadn't given them to her.

"Now, it is time for us to start work."

Finally! If I had to hear him praise her any longer, I would have walked right out of the door. I get even more excited when he announces to us that the person who will brew the best Draught of Living Death will receive a small vial of Felix Felicis, liquid luck. Imagine what I could do if I got my hands on such a thing.

Just like everyone else, I quickly assemble all the ingredients I'll need for my potion and get to work. Three minutes into the work and I realise there is an upside to sitting next to Weasley. His incapability to simply slice beans is already so amusing, I'm looking forward to the part where he'll have to add the sloth brain. I can't help but smirk when I watch him frantically browse through his scattered book once his potion turns an alarming shade of pink.

"I know you're not the most careful person around, but how on earth did you manage to destroy your book to such a state mere days after buying it?" I nod at his book that barely seems to hold all the pages together.

"I didn't buy it," he scoffs while still trying to redeem his failed potion.

"Why would you want to steal a torn book?" I frown.

"Of course you'd think I stole it. We're not all like you."

"Don't blame yourself for that," I grin. "The world needs idiots such as yourself as well."

"I got it from the cabinet since I hadn't been planning to take this class," He sighs annoyed. "Now will you please let me work in silence?"

"Fine, but it's not like you'll be able to make anything out of that drab. It's not supposed to look like liquorice, you know."

"Can you do any better?!"

Actually I can. My potion is better than I could have expected. It is pretty close to how it should be which makes me confident enough that if Granger's isn't as good as mine, I'm the one who'll be taking home the liquid luck.

"And time's… up! Stop stirring, please!"

Slughorn makes the rounds to check out everyone's potion and I feel a surge of pride I haven't felt in a long time when he compliments me on my result. It is however short-lived when he approaches Granger and Harry's table and exclaims that we have a clear winner.

"Excellent, excellent, Harry!"

What?! I look with bulging eyes how Slughorn congratulates my brother instead of Granger. Harry won? Harry!? He can't even make a decent Babbling Beverage without screwing up. How did he brew a better draught than me?!

"Good Lord, it's clear you've inherited your mother's talent, she is a dab hand at Potions, Lily is! Here you are, then, here you are – one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and use it well!"

You have got to be fucking kidding me!

I think Harry knows I'm trying to glare holes in the back of his skull because he doesn't turn around once and I am definitely not being subtle about it.

I'm angry. I know that makes me petty, being mad at my brother for doing a better job at something than me. But he's always better at everything and Potions is the one thing I have more talent for than him. To take that away from me, doesn't leave much else.

I quickly grab my bag and leave the class room before I'll have to force myself to congratulate him.

It is only at dinner that I see Harry again. I sit with Kellah and Fay instead because I'm still feeling the ache of my bruised ego and I haven't forgotten yet what happened at lunch either. Afterwards I'll have to meet Wayne like he requested so that's another reason not to hang out with my brother right now. That's also the reason I make it to the Room of Requirement earlier than agreed upon but I don't mind waiting a bit. Luckily Wayne doesn't leave me hanging around by myself for too long.

"Hi, Wayne," I smile friendly at him when he rounds the corner.

"You should have hid or something," He frowns at me. "What if I was a professor?"

"I knew you weren't," I wave the map in his direction. "One step ahead of everyone, remember?"

"I've missed that thing." He eagerly eyes the piece of parchment in my hand.

"Can you tell me now what's so secretive?" I ask.

"Not here." He starts to walk back and forth in front of the wall.

If I didn't know what he's doing it for, that would be ridiculous. Actually, I do know and it still looks pretty stupid.

"There we go." Wayne opens the popped-up door and quickly ushers me inside.

The room looks like a common room excepts for the lack of house colours. There are a few couches and tables scattered around with a crackling open fire at the opposite wall.

"Much cosier than last year," Wayne smiles and sits down on the nearest sofa.

I can't argue with him on that. The homey feeling of this fake common room certainly beats the cold atmosphere we had in our make-shift potions lab last year.

"I have something for you." He reaches into his inside pocket of his robes once I sit down across from him.

"Here," He shoves a small vial into my palm.

I turn it over in my hands but the colourless liquid inside could be anything, varying from simple water to Draught of Living Death. The absence of a label makes me none the wiser.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Veritaserum," he proudly announces.

It has exactly the right colour for the potion and I know from personal experience how hard it is to accomplish that. This must have been made by someone extremely skilled in the art of potion making. Even my Veritaserum wasn't anywhere near to how flawless this one is. Though Wayne is clearly good enough to make it into the NEWT Potions class, there's a reason I was the one brewing last year and not him.

"Did you nick this from Slughorn?" I raise my eyebrows at him.

"It was just there for the taking," he defends his criminal actions. "And he had an entire cauldron of it. There is no way he will miss the small amount I've taken. You don't have to get mad over it."

"I'm not mad. If anything, I'm impressed," I smile. "But take it from me, stealing from a Potions professor never ends well."

Though surprisingly I never did get caught for robbing Snape's supply cabinet.

"But what did you take it for anyway?" I suddenly frown.

"I gathered you didn't brew a supply over the summer and this will get us started until you get a chance to do that."

"Get us started with what? And what exactly will I be doing?"

"Our Veritaserum training, of course. And since we haven't done any of that the past few months, I suggest we get started right away. I'll go first." He reaches for the vial in my hands but I quickly pull it out of reach.

"You want to continue that?"

I can't believe what I'm hearing. He was never a fan of the plan to begin with. I hadn't even considered continuing where we left last year yet he seems almost eager to get started.

"Of course I do! Just because Umbridge got sacked at the end of last year, doesn't mean it's not important anymore."

His enthusiasm certainly is refreshing compared to his attitude at the beginning of this thing but I am not feeling it myself and he certainly notices my lack of desire to continue our rule-breaking tradition.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not entirely on board with this?" He frowns.

"Because I'm not," I admit. "It never even crossed my mind to pick this up where we left last year."

"You don't think this is important?"

"It seemed really important last year but I have a lot of things on my plate this time around. I just don't have time for this."

"Oh, I get it," He crosses his arms in front of his chest and gives me a cold glare I never knew he mastered. "When it was about you, I had to help you out. But now that it's the other way around, you get to just quit."

"Where the hell did that come from?"

This isn't about me being selfish. Well, maybe a bit but he never wanted to get along with this plan to begin with so why is he suddenly so upset that it will end?

"This is important to me," He says.

"Why? You used to think it was a bunch of bullshit."

"We're at war, Danny."

"You think I don't know that?"

"You know it better than most people. It's like you have a sixth sense for all things related to this wizarding war which is why I want you to help me. I need your help."

"Being able to lie under the effect of Veritaserum is not going to spare you in this war, in any way. If you want to somehow secure your survival, you'll need to work on a lot more than that."

"Then teach me that as well."

"I don't have the time to teach you things that I have yet to master. I am already going to have to bust my ass off trying to protect Harry against every Death Eater out there and their number is increasing by the minute."

Why didn't he understand that lying under Veritaserum is not a priority when every dark wizard is focusing on finding a way to off my brother?

"My uncle died this summer," He suddenly says.

"W-what?" I am almost stunned into silence.

"You probably read about it in the prophet though it really was only one little article in an entire newspaper announcing people's deaths. A Death Eater found that he didn't have a place in the wizarding world so killed him. That's how easy it is these days to lose your life."

I've always thought that Wayne and I are close. But hearing him talk so coldly about what happened to a member of his family, makes me realise he never really told me anything. He told me plenty about his unhealthy infatuation with Romy but he never really spoke of his family before. All I know is that he has a sister and now that he has a deceased uncle.

Slowly I get up from my seat and sit down next to him. I want to comfort him, let him know that I am here for him but I know from my own pain that it probably doesn't matter what I say or do. The hurt never really leaves, no matter how many people claim they'll try to take it away.

"I am so sorry," I whisper to him. "I know how much that hurts."

"I'm a half-blood, Danny," He turns to me with a determined look in his eyes that surprisingly enough reminds me of myself. "I am not as safe in this war as other people are. It certainly doesn't help that I'm an awful dueller as well."

"We can work on that," I squeeze his hand reassuringly.

"We can?" He looks at me hopefully.

"Yes," I force myself to give him a convincing smile. "I have a lot of things to figure out this year, mainly how I'm going to not die. But we can figure it out together."

"That would mean a lot to me," He nods.

"But first," I reach for my bag with a new grin on my face. "I need you to help me with something else."

I open it and reveal the content of my bag to my friend. Wayne looks at me suspiciously once he figures out what it is.

"What do you plan to do with that?" He frowns at me in concern but I'm glad his thoughts are no longer with the gloomy subject we spoke of.

"Lets say that I have a score to settle with Malfoy." I grin maliciously.


End file.
